EDM 310 Blog #6

ALICECHRISTIE.ORG

Dr. Christie's website is a great source of information for any present or future educator who wants to implement technology into the classroom. Not only did she offer numerous ideas of how to use various forms of technolgy in the classroom through students centered tactics, but she also she differentiated the ideas between grade levels. With each form of technology mentioned, Dr. Christie also listed the "possibilities, pitfalls, and perils" of each type which I found to be very helpful.

Of the many ideas mentioned on Dr. Chritie's site, I would use to the idea of geocaching. I liked this method because students can learn a numerous amount of information in one activity. The subject matter that can be addressed with geocaching is geography, math, or science! What a great tool! It also gets the students up and moving and encourages them to become active in the learning process.
Aicechirstie.org

I-Tunes U

I-Tunes U is a program is a free service offered by Apple that allows universities to publish their lectures to the I-tunes website. Anyone can access these FREE lectures that are offered by some of the world's greatest thinkers (professors from Harvard, Berkley, Yale etc.). Great. Why am I paying for college when I can subscribe to a podcast from Berkley or Yale upon the subject matter that I'm already majoring in at a less renowned institution? Sadly enough it doesn't work this way but, I still think it's great that I can access a lecture from a professor from a different university and use it to supplement a course that I'm currently enrolled in. I also think it's great that I can have access to these high caliper lectures from Ivy league institutions. However the main catch for me is that I can listen to a lecture anywhere (in my car, on a plane, folding laundry, running, working out etc.) this will boost my level of efficiency and keep me in my favorite mode which is always on the go!

As a teacher I would use I-tunes U in a high school or a middle school classroom. It could be used to expose students to a college level lecture or as a supplement to various lesson plans. For example if I was teaching a unit on poetry in an English class, maybe I would find some readings of classic poetry and have my students listen to it via I-Tunes U. The students would then have to identify certain literary techniques used in the poem such as rhyme scheme, rhythm, or automatopia. This will give the students new exposure to various aspects of poetry. Students would be able to listen to the poem and follow along with their text at the same time which will add a new dimension to the lesson. To take it a step further the students could write their own poetry and produce their own literary podcast that is composed of their own poetry.

I Pods in the Classroom

Upon researching what Duke University did with a 500k technology grant I was envious and wanted to be a freshman again...Actually maybe not a freshman again but I wish that I had an opportunity like this one. At the start of 2004 every freshman at Duke university was granted an I pod from the university that came downloaded with freshman orientation information, university info, and the school songs. According to the the article I read on Wired by Katie Dean, at http://tinyurl.com/yjj86xx, The i pods are intended for students to "download course info.recorded lectures, foreign language classes, audio books and music from a website that is similar to the iTunes website." The iPods will be used throughout courses offered at Duke University as a supplement to lectures and as a way for students to be able to study various subjects more effectively. What a lucky bunch of freshman!

Katie Dean's article on "Wired" click here

When I investigated how ipods could be used in the classroom I got a little selfish and wanted to know how they would benefit my current learning experience here at South before I would ponder how to use them in the classroom. I found a website from a previous class assignment that listed the top 100 ways to use your iPod to learn and study better. As I perused this page at http://is.gd/2cdc6, I stumbled upon ipresspress.com which is a site of visual study guides that I could download to my i pod to help me study anywhere! I will be taking anatomy 1&2 along with kinesiology and it'll be interesting to see how Sparkcharts will help me in my learning process. The site also had some free downloads such as the Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, The Gettysburg Address etc. For high school students, I also found that Kaplan has an SAT study guide that can be downloaded to the iPod.

100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Study Better click here
Study Guides for your iPod click here

My favorite resource that includes a movie about how teachers can effectively use iPods and podcasts is located at http://is.gd/2cd2l. This movie gives you a wealth of information on how to effectively use podcasts and iPods in the classroom. An article that I found on my own at http://tinyurl.com/y8nf4dl, was entitled "Using iPods in the Classroom promotes Interactive Learning and More Effective Studying". Teachers mentioned in this article are using iPods to engage students in their foreingn language studies outside of class, schools are also making information available for students to download onto their iPods that are tailored to their coursework. As stated in the article, now students can use their idle time (bus rides or walking to school etc.) studying and are engaged more with their studies outside of class while looking cool at the same time. At a time in your life when you don't want to look like a dork and image is everything, maybe this might be a really effective way to get through to our teens while providing them with a great study aide.

Podcasting in the Classroom Video click here
AP Article on iPod Use in Classroom Settings click here

Comments 4 Kids Week 6

This week I got to read a fifth graders blog who lives in Shanghai and goes to school at a Shanghai American school. Her blog was titled "Ritu's Royal Blog". I read her post that was about her reflections on a play that she and her fellow students preformed. She proved to be a pretty bright student, her writing skills were great; it almost seemed as though she was composing a mini play review for a newspaper's arts section. I hope I can produce students of this caliber some day!

Ritu's Royal Blog