Webquests

Webquests allow for students to students to explore specified websites in search of answers, resources, and solutions.  A webquest could be great in the classroom in order to introduce a new topic or to conclude a unit.  It also would be a way to review.  The webquest I created was about the connections that math has to baseball.  The purpose of this webquest was to review math concepts and to reinforce the importance and relevance of math to everyday life.   You can view my webquest by clicking the link on the left.  

Instructional Podcasts

A podcast is a great instructional tool that I think will be used more in the near future in the K-12  classrooms.  There are podcasts on almost every topic imaginable.  A podcast can be an informational source for teachers and for students.  Teachers can use podcasts to learn more about an upcoming topic or about professional development.  The podcasts can be used for students to have an auditory way to learn information on their own schedule.  It is also easy to create your own podcast.  It would be useful to create podcasts of lessons or strategies in order to help students who were absent from class or need to hear the lesson again when doing work at home.  This would be very useful for students with learning disabilities.  It would allow students to focus more during class than worrying about getting all the notes down the first time around. It would be great when accompanied with notes.  It would also be useful for teachers to read material for a student who is visually impaired.  For foreign language learners, teachers could post podcasts in the foreign language for practice.  It would also be a fun project for students to put speeches into a podcast showing their language ability.  Students could also create a radio advertisement for certain topics using the technology of a podcast.  

Google Applications in the Classroom

This week I explored four different google applications.  I explored the google calendar, Picasa, Knol, and iGoogle.  All four of the applications do have a place in the classroom and can be especially useful for a teacher to stay organized. 

 With google calendar, a teacher can create various calendars possibly one for each student.  This would be particularly useful in the special education setting.  A teacher could put the student's homework deadlines on the calendar and what assignments are due.  They could then share this calendar with the student's parents.  This would be more efficient for certain students than a traveling notebook or sheet of paper with the homework assignments on it.   Teachers can use iGoogle for their personal use of seeing everything they are interested in but could also be used for the whole classroom.  The site could be projected up on a screen or smartboard.  Younger students could make use of the weather component as well as the calendar component.  This would provide a new twist on the original idea of calendar time.  For older students, i Google would be useful for checking current events in various subject areas. 

Picasa can be used in a similar fashion to Flick'r.  Teachers can use it to organize pictures of classroom events and share with families.  Teachers could also use Picasa to find pictures to use for classroom assignments and to use for classroom discussion based on the subject.  For instance, an English teacher may find a picture using Picasa and assign the students to write poetry based on the picture.  

Knol can be used in the classroom to get background information on a topic.  It could also be used as a lesson in teaching what is and what is not a credible source.  Knol would be useful if you wanted a quick question answered without a real need for credibility.  Knol could be used also as a place to brainstorm about different topics for projects.  Teachers may even find Knol as a place of inspiration for lesson plans.  With a little bit of creativity, google applications such as knowl, picasa, igoogle, and google calendar can work great in the classroom setting.   

Useful Wikis in the Classroom

A wiki is a relatively new concept.  I knew about wikipedia but I only recently learned that anyone could create a wiki for their personal use such as planning a camping trip or in collaborating on a school project. After watching the common craft video about wikis, I realized how useful wikis can be used both professionally and personally. Professionally colleagues would be able to work together to develop different ideas for curriculum or any other group project they need to tackle. In one's personal life, wikis can be used to plan trips or events as well as work on letters to send for family during christmas time. A wiki would be useful to students when working on a group project.  Wikis are great ways for students to learn how to collaborate.  On a larger scale is the issue of using wikipedia in the school.  Many teachers "ban" the use of wikipedia as a source for student resource because anyone can contribute information so therefore it is not necessarily true. I think "banning" the use of wikipedia might be too extreme, however I think that wikipedia makes a good starting point. It should be able to be used in research in an appropriate context. Wikipedia probably should not be used for a formal research paper, but if a teacher wants students to research basic information about Spain for background information Wikipedia could be used appropriately. I practiced using the wiki first hand by using the Wiki Sandbox. I thought it was a strange experience to be putting something on the internet that others could access and see. The concept of a wiki is a new idea that I think will become more and more popular among the general public.

Course Management Tools

Course management tools such as D2L, Blackboard, and Moodle are taking the place of gradebooks and other management tools for teachers. The use of course management tools allows for teachers to streamline their work, their student's work, grades, and communications. These course management tools allow for students to take quizzes online, turn assignments in online, see their assignments online, view notes and powerpoints as well as chat with other students. The three main course management tools out there are D2L, Blackboard, and Moodle. They have similar features but seen more often in different settings. For instance, D2L is more prevelant on college campuses whereas Blackboard is designed more for the high school circuit. However in no time at all they will be sure to be used in all types of school settings. Course management systems is a relatively new trend in education and will be sure to transform how classes are ran. These systems have many benefits for both students and teachers however it does take a while to get used to. One warning.... they can be frustrating for beginning users but eventually do make life a lot easier.

Online Word Processors and Spreadsheets

This week I tried using online word processors and spreadsheets from both Google Documents and Zoho. Before this week I knew nothing of these online word processors and spreadsheet programs. I found the two programs to be very comparable in all aspects. I did not find one to be extremely easier to use than the other. Both Zoho and Google Documents had similar features both in the spreadsheet and in the word processor. They were both very similar to other word processors such as Microsoft Works or Microsoft Word. They have the basic functions that one would need to type a paper or to make a chart with a spreadsheet. However there is one thing that I noticed in Zoho that I did not notice in Google Docs (it may have been there but I didn't notice it). I noticed that using Zoho to make bar graphs, there was an option of making the bars 3-D which I did not notice using Google. I also noticed that Zoho had a greater selection of fonts and colors. All in all they are very similar programs and I am sure they will have more and more features as time goes on. If I would have to choose though, I would say I would choose Zoho. I like having more choices. I would also like to add one more thing that I noticed while using these programs from home. My internet connection at home is not as fast as that on campus and therefore it took a lot longer to load and save the documents I created on both sites. Other than that they are great alternatives to the traditional word processor and best of all they are FREE!!!!

RSS Feeds for teachers

RSS feeds such as bloglines and google reader can be useful both in a teacher's professional and personal life. RSS feeds are meant to make checking websites, blogs, etc. faster and more efficient. Instead of having to check each individual site you can just check the RSS feed to see what is new. A teacher would be able to use this in order to keep up with professional online journals or professional websites. An RSS feed can be used for instructional purposes when checking for current events which is often an activity in the social studies classroom.  In a math classroom, students could use the RSS feed to check on sports scores and calculate certain statistics from the scores.  The RSS feed can be used to check on new science technologies and social problems that are science related.  On a personal level, teachers can use RSS feeds to check the newspapers, news shows, sports scores, blogs, and even get the word of the day. RSS feeds can make life a little bit easier... something everyone can use!!!