Emma raises a great point in her discussion of an article on Digital Portfolios. I hadn’t thought of it before, but its true..to be able to view a digital portfolio of students that join your class gives a great indication of where they stand intellectually and thus where they could fit into your classroom. Digital portfolios will engage children and they will end up with something they can build to be proud of. Students personal showcase of work that they are able to access from anywhere and able to have anyone else access it simultaneously. Students will be proud of their work and teachers will be able to monitor their progress or lack there of.
Digital portfolios create an array of benefits for both students and teachers in every classroom. Much like Emma, I can’t wait to utilise them in my classroom!
Whilst creating a LAMS task recently, I came across a site called e-snips where, much like houndbite, free podcasts are available to download or podcasts of your own can be uploaded. This discovery made me realise just how many resources there are out there! Its amazing what you can find when you aren’t even looking. Imagine what you could find if you were actively seeking resources!!
I just read a really interesting article that was written ten year’s ago predicting the use of technolgy’s in ‘tomorrow’s’ classroom. The article speaks about a hand held math device into which students input data which is then sent to a larger screen in the classroom to be displayed for student discussion. Although this is not the reality within classrooms, we are close – smartboards are a display for students interactivity and for teacher planning. If a paper was written now about tomorrows classrooms…what would we say? Would children each have a handheld device where all work is submitted? What could you dream up for tomorrow’s classroom? Technology is changing everyday, who knows that will come next!
Jodie has a really interesting post about constructionist learning. The article which her post is commenting on speaks about constructionist learning and how to bring it into the classroom. Jodie’s post talks about her prac class and where constructionist learning was put into practise. Jodie mentions being excited to use constructionist learning in her classrooms in the future, and I feel the same way. I think for a child to be in an active role when using technology helps them to become enthusiastic about their learning.
I never really saw a point to asking students to create a digital story – in the word’s of Matthew Kearney “Why aren’t you just having them tell their story face to face??”. I didn’t really know why, it would be a hassel trying to set them all up on the program, having them remember to bring their photos and scripts, and then trying to get the technology to work to play them all….Why not just have them read it? But then I created my own, and I had fun doing it. Not only that but after I viewed everybody else’s digital stories, I could see that each story was gven hat much more meaning when viewed digitally rather than being told the story with no visual aid and to a monotone voice. So, save a hassel or submerge students in their learning. It might take a little longer, but isn’t it worth it?
I found an interesting posting on nicoles blog about internet bullying. Although I hadn’t really thought about it before, mostly because I’ve been trying to see the positives to technology, internet bullying is becoming more and more of a problem. With all the online social utilities available now such as myspace, facebook etc., it is so easy to access someones life and disrupt it. It wasn’t long ago that we were hearing and reading about kids killing themselves because of the trauma they felt from another person bullying them via deception over the internet. I recently wrote a blog about how I will encourage blogging in my classroom, imagine if I didn’t properly monitor the children’s use of the blog and something I encouraged caused one of my students to be the victim of such bullying. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. The internet and technology in general is amazing, but we do have to remember to be careful at all times!
After I read nicole’s posting, I did a little search on teacher tube and came across the following video….quite informative!
I recently read an essay attempting to “debunk” the myths about video games. I wasn’t convinced. I don’t know what it is, but something about the idea of a teenager holing themselves away playing video games scares me a little. Maybe I read too many Jodi Picoult books, but I just find the obsession with computer games or video games to be antisocial and something to be worried about. I played my fair share of Nintendo as a kid, but it wasn’t all that I did, my parents definitely made sure of that. The constant desire to play video games, that addiction, thats what scares me. When a child feels the need to hide behind some sort of technology that creates an alter ego for them in order to have any confidence in themselves or anything that they do cannot be healthy. Children should be encouraged to find their voice, to experience things head on and to live in the real world. I might be over reacting in my own way, but I just find it a little worrying.
I just finished watching a video about “Second Life” – a virtual world for people with learning and physical challenges. Second Life creates a world where individuals are able to do everything they can do in the everyday world virtually, even set up a business and buy and sell within that business.
I find second life to be quite confronting and I’m not sure if I find it to be of benefit to the user. I can see where the positives of such a virtual world are – these people, especially those with major physical disabilities, are given a chance to live in a world where nothing is holding them back and where they are not restrained by these disabilities. However, isn’t this detaching them from the reality?? Is that safe or even healthy? By living constantly in this virtual world, these people may lose touch with reality…. Then again, I have not had to live with a disabling condition, and maybe his second chance or second opportunity at a “new life” is what they are striving for??
This video explores the negatives and positives of interactive whiteboards and the financial investment necessary to have one. The video raises some good arguments for either side, however I am definately leaning towards the positives. Interactive whiteboards provide students and teachers alike with unlimited access to resources thus expanding the capabilities of a lesson or a unit and letting students become that much more involved in each lesson. With such unlimited resources students can ask and delve into so many different questions and explore different ways of thinking. Overall, I think Interactive whiteboards improve student engagement and motivation and the pace of every lesson is sped up providing for more time to explore different ideas/areas. Of course, as stated in the video, the teaching comes down to the teacher and no matter what technologies are provided, it will not improve the teacher!
“The Internet gave me the opportunity to really open the classroom walls, bring the world into the room, and collaborate with the global community.”
I just finished reading an interview with a woman named Susan Silverman about collaborative internet projects and how she used them within the classroom. She became interested in the internet in its early beginnings and said that it was a natural step from what she had previously been doing – travelling the world and getting artifacts to explore with her students and create units or lessons around them. She found the internet to be a freedom to do all the exploring she wanted. She said that at first she had a phobia of the internet but just figured that with practise she could teach herself – and that is what she did!
I think that collaborative internet projects are a great way to get students involved in different projects and to get them interested in concepts to explore outside the classroom. Also, such internet projects give students a chance to explore what other children their age are doing thereby presenting them with a challenge that they can work towards or meet. Collaborative internet projects are a way for students and teachers alike to become familiar with the internet whilst taking part in a learning environment where they can share their work with students and teachers from around the world. A collaborative project is something like an interactive blog and I think even more useful. Susan paved the way for such projects in her community and got many schools involved! Check it out!
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