I was very pleased to discover that the videos for this weeks blog posts had to do with space. I just so happen to be amused by all things that are not in or on this world. I watched Total Solar Eclipse which was an animated description of what happens when the sun and the moon cross paths. I also watched a video on global warming the greenhouse effect. Instead of being animated, it was a real example of what happens when global warming occurs.
Using videos can be a very useful teaching tool in the classroom. You could show short videos (like the podcasts available on itunes) of topics that you may be teaching your class at the time to your students to help the get a better understanding of what's going on. For example, on a normal basis, a teacher would explain how an eclipse happens and you can see the different stages in your text book. This video explained and showed each of the stages of an eclipse as it happened.
I think it is important to choose videos that are interesting and short to the point. Too much information may confuse students and watching too many videos may mix them up. The global warming video was not as interesting as the eclipse one because I felt like there was too much information being given. The video is geared toward 9-12th graders, but I think 11th or 12th graders would get more out of it.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
The Edible Schoolyard and A Night in the Global Village
In the Edible Schoolyard, 6th grade students had the opportunity to learn about growing and maintaining a garden. It is a fun and interactive way for students to learn about botany and biology. They spend time outside preparing to grow the food, and in the end they get to eat their accomplishments. The teachers that spoke said that this was an awesome tactic for their students because they were interested in learning how to grow things and forgot that they were actually learning.
I agree, I think tactics that allow students to be hands on with their learning experience is very effective. I know that just going outside during class time instead of sitting in a classroom learning about the same things is way more fun. Students look forward to days like these because it is out of the norm and tend to be more engaged in the lessons.
A Night in the Global Village was my favorite because I would love to have an experience to live in the place of villagers who have close to no resources to survive. The Global Village where the students visited for their assignment is 5 acres of land that has examples of countries like Guatemala, Thailand, and refugee camps. Students were broken up into families and had to survive one night in their camp. Every camp did not have all the resources that they needed so they had to bar gin trade with other camps to get the needed materials. The refugee camp had to be the hardest, because they had no resources at all and had to beg every camp for food and supplies. But the catch is, they did not speak any language of the camp so they had to use non verbal communication. In the end students learned a lot about how it feels to not be as privileged as we are. One student that was part of the refugee camp said that even though he had a hard time getting food, he knew that he would have some tomorrow, but what if his life really was like that? He could not imagine how it felt to live day to day without knowing where his next meal was going to come from.
Now this assignment for students is an amazing one and I wish that I would have done something like this when I was in grade school. This could be helpful to a teacher in her lessons by learning more about different cultures around the world. It can also give students a better appreciation of all the privileges we have for just living in America. Watching the podcasts with my own classroom could be useful because it can give idea on projects we can do on our own and it also allows students to see what other students their age are doing around the world in their learning experiences.
I agree, I think tactics that allow students to be hands on with their learning experience is very effective. I know that just going outside during class time instead of sitting in a classroom learning about the same things is way more fun. Students look forward to days like these because it is out of the norm and tend to be more engaged in the lessons.
A Night in the Global Village was my favorite because I would love to have an experience to live in the place of villagers who have close to no resources to survive. The Global Village where the students visited for their assignment is 5 acres of land that has examples of countries like Guatemala, Thailand, and refugee camps. Students were broken up into families and had to survive one night in their camp. Every camp did not have all the resources that they needed so they had to bar gin trade with other camps to get the needed materials. The refugee camp had to be the hardest, because they had no resources at all and had to beg every camp for food and supplies. But the catch is, they did not speak any language of the camp so they had to use non verbal communication. In the end students learned a lot about how it feels to not be as privileged as we are. One student that was part of the refugee camp said that even though he had a hard time getting food, he knew that he would have some tomorrow, but what if his life really was like that? He could not imagine how it felt to live day to day without knowing where his next meal was going to come from.
Now this assignment for students is an amazing one and I wish that I would have done something like this when I was in grade school. This could be helpful to a teacher in her lessons by learning more about different cultures around the world. It can also give students a better appreciation of all the privileges we have for just living in America. Watching the podcasts with my own classroom could be useful because it can give idea on projects we can do on our own and it also allows students to see what other students their age are doing around the world in their learning experiences.
Friday, March 6, 2009
iTunes University
When I first signed on to the official iTunes University website, the first thing read was, "Learning no longer happens only at a desk. Students now expect constant access to information, no matter where they are. Which is exactly why more and more faculty are using iTunes U to distribute digital lessons to their students." I liked how this got straight the point to inform you what iTunes U was all about in synopsis form. It engaged me to browse the site to learn more.
iTunes U allows students to listen or watch podcasts that may be in correspondence to their lessons in the classroom. Instead of reading out of a book or paying attention in class to gather information, students can easily download podcasts to their ipod and go at their own pace to learn the material. Students may find it easier because they can pause, stop, or rewind lessons if they miss something. iTunes U can be helpful for teachers, because now we won't have to worry about our students missing important information in class. They can easily refer back to their podcasts. Also, if making podcasts is not your thing, there are countless podcasts available through iTunes that are free they may be in relation to your class lessons.
This form of learning is quite effective, because students are using tools that they use in their free time to take in knowledge other than music and other mass medias. They no longer have to sit down and study or read out of a book. Anywhere they go they can just listen or watch lectures and other videos for class. Hopefully, if this new technology works and stays effective, there won't be anymore excuses on why homework is not complete!
iTunes U allows students to listen or watch podcasts that may be in correspondence to their lessons in the classroom. Instead of reading out of a book or paying attention in class to gather information, students can easily download podcasts to their ipod and go at their own pace to learn the material. Students may find it easier because they can pause, stop, or rewind lessons if they miss something. iTunes U can be helpful for teachers, because now we won't have to worry about our students missing important information in class. They can easily refer back to their podcasts. Also, if making podcasts is not your thing, there are countless podcasts available through iTunes that are free they may be in relation to your class lessons.
This form of learning is quite effective, because students are using tools that they use in their free time to take in knowledge other than music and other mass medias. They no longer have to sit down and study or read out of a book. Anywhere they go they can just listen or watch lectures and other videos for class. Hopefully, if this new technology works and stays effective, there won't be anymore excuses on why homework is not complete!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
ipods in intruction
I guess I live under a rock or don't pay close attention on whats going on in the world around me, but evidently I am missing out on some serious stuff in technology. I dig that Dr. Strange is super into technology, especially ipods. Honestly, I thought an ipod was just an fun past time that you use to listen to music, watch videos, movies, and things like that. There is so much more to an ipod than that! I came across the website School CIO. It is perfect for all the questions you may have on how exactly an ipod can benefit students and teachers in the classroom.
There is so much you can do on an ipod, from learning different languages by hearing it through an audio perspective to finding podcasts from lessons you may be teaching in your class to share with your own class. I checked out what happened at Duke University and ipods, and after a year long study, they actually offer ipods to students for courses that their professors plan to use apple tools to instruct their classes.
Apple has its own website that you can check out all the educational benefits it has to offer. On the website, it tells you all of the possibilities you can do with an ipod for your classroom and in education in general. It gives lesson plans and activities as well for you to download. Also, if you are new to Apple or an ipod, there are steps and guides you can refer to help you operate your ipod and the website.
There is so much you can do on an ipod, from learning different languages by hearing it through an audio perspective to finding podcasts from lessons you may be teaching in your class to share with your own class. I checked out what happened at Duke University and ipods, and after a year long study, they actually offer ipods to students for courses that their professors plan to use apple tools to instruct their classes.
Apple has its own website that you can check out all the educational benefits it has to offer. On the website, it tells you all of the possibilities you can do with an ipod for your classroom and in education in general. It gives lesson plans and activities as well for you to download. Also, if you are new to Apple or an ipod, there are steps and guides you can refer to help you operate your ipod and the website.
Alice Christie and Library Thing
Alice Christie is a retired teacher who has shown how technology can be so useful in the classroom. Her website has endless amount of links to all kinds of resources to use in the classroom and also how to help parents find something for their child in school. I checked out a few different things the the eportfolio and digital pencil. I decided to share about Library Thing because it has be the most amazing site I have ever come across!
In short, Library Thing is a site you can put in the book you or your class is reading and find other people around the world who is reading the same thing! It is kind of like match making, but on an educational level. You can enter in all the books that you have read in the data base and other people can find you based on that. You can even collaborate with someone else to share all the books that you have read. You can also rate and write reviews to the books. This would be a great tool to use in the classroom because this can encourage kids to read more if they can see what other people are saying about it. And they do not have to use it just for books they read in school. It can also be from books they read in their free time. That data base is endless. They are working with over 470,000 users and 30 million books!
In short, Library Thing is a site you can put in the book you or your class is reading and find other people around the world who is reading the same thing! It is kind of like match making, but on an educational level. You can enter in all the books that you have read in the data base and other people can find you based on that. You can even collaborate with someone else to share all the books that you have read. You can also rate and write reviews to the books. This would be a great tool to use in the classroom because this can encourage kids to read more if they can see what other people are saying about it. And they do not have to use it just for books they read in school. It can also be from books they read in their free time. That data base is endless. They are working with over 470,000 users and 30 million books!
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