Chapters 8 and 9

When and how do teachers act as designers?

Teachers act as designers all the time. Whether it is designing a lesson plan that reaches the few struggling students in the class or designing a creative way to teach their students. Teacher act as designers also when creating any project that has to do with technology. Technology is great but does not always work so they have to design the activity or lesson so that even if technology fails the student can still learn the concept the full extent to which they would if the technology did work to their advantage.  

- Select one of the followings and explain what it is and how it can be used in classroom: SketchUp, Trebuchet Simulator, Model Car Design, Scratch, iStopMotion, Impromptu. 

SketchUp is a program that is designed to build a house or make floor plans from the ground up. With the program you can make a 3-D model of a house from the ground up. You could add trees and small details like a fence around the house to show how it will look when it is finished. This technology would be great to use in the classroom because it can show a process that has to be followed. It could be a great demonstration for following directions and also the steps to making something large like a house that without this technology would be very difficult. The students can go in and make their own house and it teaches them that they have to do it in a certain order to get the right results, because obviously you can’t have a roof before you have your walls in place.

- Explain "Digital Storytelling by Kate Kemker." What do you think it would work in your classroom?

Digital Storytelling is a tool used to create the actual story that the student wants to tell. What I understood from the book was that “Students will use their creative skills to create a storyboard on paper, use a camera to shoot their video, and finally edit their video on a computer using some type of software” I think this could work in a high school setting but it would be very hard to complete the activity. Not every school has the funds to have enough cameras to go around or the funds to purchase the editing software needed. It is a great idea and would definitely teach the students more about technology.

- Mathematics is one of the most abstract subject-matter domains. Helping students to visualize mathematical concepts is very useful in helping students make math real. What other methods suggested in the textbook will also help make math more real to students?

Also suggested in the book is Mathematica, Math Lab, and Statistical Analysis System. These systems give the students the hands on experience that they need to learn and help them remember and relate to what they are doing. It’s all about visualizing what you are doing and making the connection to how it can benefit you and your future.

- Is it possible to learn from TV alone?--that is, learn how to do something merely from watching TV instruction? 

I think it is possible to learn some from TV, but not everything. If a small skill is being taught where you can take notes and keep up with the show it is great but after you watch and learn how to do it you have to complete the task and I think that’s when you really learn. Watching and doing is two very different things, you can watch how to do something all day long but once you get involved in actually doing it you can learn what works best for you and that is when you really learn and also dip into problem solving.

Jonassen, David H., and David H. Jonassen. Meaningful Learning with Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

Week 12

I liked the site voicethread.com, right as you got to the site it introduced voicethread to you and told you all about the neat features that can be used with it. There was a video to watch and also some text to introduce it to you. I think be able to leave comments in many different ways is a neat concept, if someone was to leave a voice comment you could hear the tone of their voice and maybe understand what they are trying to say better than with just text.

I would use this for my lesson plan because it would be a good way for students to be able to log on use the internet and tell leave question comments or tell me what they liked and disliked about the lesson or what they didn't understand. Also this gives other students in the class to help their classmate out by answering their questions that they see posted.

Technology is evolving so much and their is so much that is being introduced to the classroom. I think that it is great to have technology to help keep the students attention, but the cost might be the downfall of these great ideas. On this site however it did say that there was no software to purchase and I think that is a great advantage for teachers and schools.

Sources: www.voicethread.com

Week 11 Chapter 3

The three principles that I believe are important for education are Committed Learning Principle, Practice Principle, and Discovery Principle. These three principles would help the student be successful in their educational careers.
     If I was making a simulation for my classroom it would be helping Special Education students socialize in a classroom setting, community setting, and also a business setting. The variables that the students would be able to change could be the the setting to any of the three stated above, they could create the people that they are socializing with and change the type of conversation, also have the practice of socializing in the simulation would be great to have to teach them before actually placing them in the setting to see how well they handle the situation. Socialization is a very important skill that these students need to be taught while in school.
       Being able to allow students to work with any technology like simulation is a great learning experience for them. They are so engulfed in technology that is how they learn so using technology like this to help them learn is very beneficial.

     Jonassen, David H., and David H. Jonassen. Meaningful Learning with Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.