Article Link:
http://campustechnology.com/articles/40629_1/
As a college student in the time of rising technology, “wikis” are one technology topic that I have used frequently in the last few years of highschool and in college. A wiki is a software that allows users to create, edit, and link web pages easily. A wiki is a web communication and collaboration tool that can be used to help students in learning within the web environment.
The great article that I found was written by the University of Southern California in there search to implement various types of social software into the classroom. One of these being the use of wikis. They identified six general approaches for how wikis could be implemented in schooling or around there campus. The first approach that can be used within teaching and education is for student journaling. Teacher’s can have there students journal on a wiki to demonstrate writing skills, to expose there knowledge of a certain topic, and to benefit from peer and teaching review. The second reason why teacher’s may want to implement wiki’s into there classroom is for students own personal portfolios. Students are able to collect and organized digital resources such as notes, images, web resources, and PowerPoint slides. Another way wikis can be used in education is by having the students work on a project together. This can be done by allowing them to work in small groups on a larger class project, or to have the students as a whole create and maintain the course Web site. The forth approach is by using a wiki as a research tool. This is something that I have done in the past. By having multiple collaborators collect ideas, papers, timelines, and documents it makes it easy for a student to do research on one topic and from one website. Another positive to using a wiki is for teachers to organize common course assets, such as syllabi, office hours, and assessments, without having to actually meet. The sixth general use for a wiki is for the use of conferences and meetings. By allowing presenters and attendees access to add and edit content, the conference wiki can serve as a resource before, during, and after the event.
I do believe that further research needs to be done in the area of the ages of students using wiki’s and how easy or hard it is for a student to use or make a wiki themselves. I believe students in highschool probably will have a greater use for wiki’s in the classroom but can younger students benefit from wiki’s too? The article I read pinpointed older college students, making me wonder if wiki’s are more for young adults then any other age group. I think this would be useful for those of us who will be teaching younger students not older highschoolers or college students.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Blog Basics-Blogging and Teaching!
The Article:
http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/blog-basics
Prior to writing about how teaching and blogging can be used together I must first write on what blogging is and how it works. A blog is a web tool that allows people to self-publish text, pictures, links to websites, and much more content. Blogs are very easy to use because they require minimum technical knowledge and are quick and easy to create and maintain. Not only can they be used for fun and with no specific reason but they can be used by teachers to create a classroom that extends beyond the boundaries of the school building.
The article I read gave so much insight on how to use a blog in (and out) of the classroom and what basic functions a blog can sever as an educational tool. The first basic function is classroom management. A blog can be used to inform students of class requirements, handouts, charts and pictures of a topic, notices, homework assignments, and even be used as a question and answer board. The second use for blogging as a teacher is to provide space where teachers and students alike can develop better writing skills with the advantage of an instant audience. Teachers can give instructional tips and help their students while out of the classroom. Thirdly a blog opens up the opportunity for great discussion between classmates and the teacher. Everyone can express their ideas and opinions and network and conference with on the blog. Lastly blogs protect students work as a digital portfolio. As students realize their work will be published they will be motivated to produce better writing and less likely to copy someone else’s work.
I believe that teaching through the technology of blogging is a great way to communicate with students and provide a powerful tool outside of the classroom. I do think the students must be in older grade levels, such as grades 6-12 (Middle school and highschool) to really benefit from a blog and to use it to it’s fullest potential.
I can see myself as a teacher using a blog to post homework assignments, post pictures and data on things we are learning in the classroom, provide discussion boards to ask questions and receive answers from students, and answer students questions on any problems they are having with assignments and grades.
I attached a link below to a 7th grade classroom “math” blog and how they use it regarding math outside the classroom.
http://verity7math.blogspot.com/2005/04/linear-patterns.html
http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/blog-basics
Prior to writing about how teaching and blogging can be used together I must first write on what blogging is and how it works. A blog is a web tool that allows people to self-publish text, pictures, links to websites, and much more content. Blogs are very easy to use because they require minimum technical knowledge and are quick and easy to create and maintain. Not only can they be used for fun and with no specific reason but they can be used by teachers to create a classroom that extends beyond the boundaries of the school building.
The article I read gave so much insight on how to use a blog in (and out) of the classroom and what basic functions a blog can sever as an educational tool. The first basic function is classroom management. A blog can be used to inform students of class requirements, handouts, charts and pictures of a topic, notices, homework assignments, and even be used as a question and answer board. The second use for blogging as a teacher is to provide space where teachers and students alike can develop better writing skills with the advantage of an instant audience. Teachers can give instructional tips and help their students while out of the classroom. Thirdly a blog opens up the opportunity for great discussion between classmates and the teacher. Everyone can express their ideas and opinions and network and conference with on the blog. Lastly blogs protect students work as a digital portfolio. As students realize their work will be published they will be motivated to produce better writing and less likely to copy someone else’s work.
I believe that teaching through the technology of blogging is a great way to communicate with students and provide a powerful tool outside of the classroom. I do think the students must be in older grade levels, such as grades 6-12 (Middle school and highschool) to really benefit from a blog and to use it to it’s fullest potential.
I can see myself as a teacher using a blog to post homework assignments, post pictures and data on things we are learning in the classroom, provide discussion boards to ask questions and receive answers from students, and answer students questions on any problems they are having with assignments and grades.
I attached a link below to a 7th grade classroom “math” blog and how they use it regarding math outside the classroom.
http://verity7math.blogspot.com/2005/04/linear-patterns.html
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Virtual Field Trips-Week 2
Week 2: Virtual Field Trips
Article Link: http://www.ccsdedtech.com/cc/projects/fieldtrip.htm
Virtual Fields trips are something I had no experience with, or had even heard about, before this class. But as I read more article’s and information on what a virtual field trip was, I was able to understand and grasp the importance of this technology and why it is such a useful tool in the classroom.
Virtual Field Trips are a technological tool that are created by the teacher for the students in order that they may virtually visit a place that they may not be able to go otherwise. Students are not only entertaining themselves on an educational website, but are reinforcing themselves with information the teacher is instructing in the classroom. VFT can even be created before going on a regular field trip in order to prepare the students for what they will soon take part in. Another way to use virtual fieldtrips in the classroom is to use them after the actual fieldtrip has taken place. Such as a reinforcer the adventure that took place prior to the virtual field trip.
My personal opinion on using a virtual fieldtrip wep page is to use it on its own without taking a trip to the certain location. For example, if a teacher was educating on the rainforest for the next 2 weeks, he/she could create a virtual fieldtrip of the rainforests’ ecosystem, the animals and people who live in the rainforest, what types of rainforest’s there are, and include activities and quizzes for the children to take to help strengthen what they have been taught in the classroom.
Virtual fieldtrips can be made by using Microsoft, Mac programs, and Photoshop technology. Virtual fieldtrips can include audio, videos, weblinks, text, and graphics to help create the effect of visiting a certain location.
Article Link: http://www.ccsdedtech.com/cc/projects/fieldtrip.htm
Virtual Fields trips are something I had no experience with, or had even heard about, before this class. But as I read more article’s and information on what a virtual field trip was, I was able to understand and grasp the importance of this technology and why it is such a useful tool in the classroom.
Virtual Field Trips are a technological tool that are created by the teacher for the students in order that they may virtually visit a place that they may not be able to go otherwise. Students are not only entertaining themselves on an educational website, but are reinforcing themselves with information the teacher is instructing in the classroom. VFT can even be created before going on a regular field trip in order to prepare the students for what they will soon take part in. Another way to use virtual fieldtrips in the classroom is to use them after the actual fieldtrip has taken place. Such as a reinforcer the adventure that took place prior to the virtual field trip.
My personal opinion on using a virtual fieldtrip wep page is to use it on its own without taking a trip to the certain location. For example, if a teacher was educating on the rainforest for the next 2 weeks, he/she could create a virtual fieldtrip of the rainforests’ ecosystem, the animals and people who live in the rainforest, what types of rainforest’s there are, and include activities and quizzes for the children to take to help strengthen what they have been taught in the classroom.
Virtual fieldtrips can be made by using Microsoft, Mac programs, and Photoshop technology. Virtual fieldtrips can include audio, videos, weblinks, text, and graphics to help create the effect of visiting a certain location.
Monday, January 7, 2008
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