Digital Blog Post G - Chapter 10

Chapter ten of Transforming Learning with New Technologies discusses many different adaptations for classroom learning with technology. Technology offers two main routes for designing the classroom so that students with diverse learning needs can access key points. The first route is to support change in the classroom environment. The second is to support change on how the curriculum is delivered. The following key factors of the chapter are examples of the different mid- and high-tech tools that teachers can use to support learning.



Michael Gorman flikr.com

 A word cloud is a visual representation of text. This means that it allows the teachers and the students to display large amounts of written text in a visually engaging format on a computer screen. Word clouds are generated by software programs that take a count of the words that were used the most in a document, and then they reposition them into an image. The word cloud avoids using prepositions, conjunctions, and other small words because they cannot clearly highlight the text. Word clouds can be used as an effective teaching strategy when used as an entry point, like a discussion opener, or as a graphic organizer for students. There are many different websites that you can use to make a word cloud; whether it be, wordle, tagxedo, wordsift, or ABCya. Word clouds are great for the classroom because there are many different ways to incorporate them. One example would be to but a word cloud on the board and have the students pick one word in the cloud, define it, and then write about what they think the new assignment will be about. I personally love using word clouds now for my college courses because they help me focus on key words in the text. Using this form of adaptation in the classroom would really pay off  and it would also be something fun that students would enjoy!

Another great way to promote learning success would be to use electronic spellers and dictionaries. This type of tool is used for students or learners of all ages. Beginning readers can use electronic spellers to find correct spellings, listen to words spoken aloud, and check the accuracy of their spelling with out adult help. By plugging headphones into the machine, students learning English, with hearing impairments, or nonfluent readers can hear and see words that they may not be able to sound out yet. Headphones are a great idea if the student is using the electronic dictionary and speller during class. This form of machine is not just limited for students with those forms of special needs, they are actually good to use with all students. These machines can also be used to support their writing and spelling, and learning. It is a great thing that the electronic spellers and dictionaries are not limited to a specific type of student. These would be a great thing to have in k-3 classrooms where students are learning new things. The great thing is that there are also electronic resources for middle and high school students. Theses machines are used as a professional reference tool; as a, thesaurus, an encyclopedia, and a collection of documents in U.S. history. Overall, this form of technology should be very appreciated in the classroom because it would help to incorporate all learners, and give students the opportunity to learn on their own.

While electronic spellers and dictionaries explain a words meanings, word prediction software acts as a spelling and writing coach for young writers. This type of software predicts what the writer is intending to write next and then offers multiple options as the writer types. This is similar to speech recognition software because this program learns an individuals word usage habits. Some example are: after typing on my, way might appear, or good, morning might appear. This form of software prediction appears in most cell phones and some versions of this software will speak the word that is typed to facilitate confirmation. I still not sure how I could apply this in the classroom, but I feel like this would be good for normal texting or web searches. This form of word prediction could also be used for writing essays or assisting students who have difficulty with figuring out what to say. This topic intrigued me because I was hard for me to find a place to use this in the classroom.

 

 

Citations:
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Blog Post F- Chapter 8

There are many interesting forms of electronic communication between teachers and students discussed in Chapter 8 of Transforming Learning with New Technologies. In schools, teachers and students can use each of these communication technologies, for educational purposes,  to share ideas and information with each other, and different audiences. One of the first ideas discussed is Teacher or classroom websites. These websites are internet based and developed by the teacher to communicate information about themselves and classes to  the students, family members, and school/educational personnel. Overall, these websites are very successful when it comes to keeping others informed about the classroom. As a teacher you can post a syllabus, outside resources, include a discussion board, or even have students submit their assignments. I have seen students websites through out most of my middle - high school career, and I very much appreciate them. These types of websites are extremely beneficial to students, and students guardians alike.  They allow constant communication, and include many web tools. As an elementary school teacher, I plan on having a teacher website that is more directed towards the parents. Regardless of the students age, however, it is very wise to have a teacher or classroom website.

Another for of electronic communication discussed is a weblog, otherwise known as a blog. Blogs are publicly accessible online journals that are written by individuals for wider audiences to read or comment on. In this case the blogs would be written by students or teachers, for their families, other educators, or students to read. Before taking this course I had no clue that blogs could be used for educational purposes. They are a great form of expression for every and anyone with access to a computer, and internet. Personally, when I think about blogs, I think about the movie Julie & Julia. After reading the textbook and taking this course it became apparent that blogs can be used for much more that to write about food. Therefor, it is clear how they could be used by teachers and students.  Blogs are a publicly accessible journal, which means other students can refer to their classmates blogs to get second opinions, and teachers can comment any questions or concerns. Blogs are a great tool for any classroom, but they are especially great for large assignments. However, blogs are very versatile and can be used to talk about basically anything, which is why I greatly appreciate learning about this form of electronic communication, and plan on adding it to my teacher tool belt.

Last but not least are wikis. The name Wiki comes from a Hawaiian word meaning quick or rapidly. Wikis are websites that students and teachers can create together and edit by reading and revising each other's ideas and comments. These sites can also used by teachers and students to post information that they would like to share. Unlike teacher websites, both the educator and the student has the ability to edit and revise this webpage. Wikis are a great way for students to work together online. They can make subpages with whatever they would like to write on them, but they can also be monitored and changed by the teachers. This is another form of electronic communication that I was unaware of. Wikis are fascinating and they are a great idea for any group project. They give the student a bit of free reign to write about they topic or assignment given. I believe that they are a fun form of learning and would be great in any classroom environment. Wikis will be a component of any communication system that I plan to create as a teacher. Although, wikis seem like they would be great for more advanced grade levels, I truly feel as though I can put them to good use in my classroom.

Here are some how-to's and instructional videos:




Citations:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Blog Post E - Chapter 7

There have been many forms of learning and teaching discussed throughout Transforming Learning with New Technologies. One of these forms that have been discussed consistently throughout the chapters  is problem-based learning. This type of learning uses real-world situations and issues to actively engage students. Problem-based learning incorporates students' own interests, which makes problem solving and inquiry learning extremely engaging at every grade level. Students will investigate problems, issues, and questions to which the have no set answer. They'll do so using a process of asking questions, assembling evidence, drawing conclusions, and evaluating the results.  This form of learning peaks my interest because it seems like an awesome way to keep students engaged and interested.  Personally, I plan on becoming a second grade elementary school teacher, and I would love to incorporate this form of learning. Children who ask questions are taking an active role in their own learning, which means that they will be that much more interested on the subject being discussed.  This form of learning is great for all classroom environments, depending on the lesson at had. Since I am working with children this would be a fun form of learning, for most lesson plans. I look forward to using this for of problem-based learning in the future.

Another form of learning described in the book is stealth learning. In stealth learning students learn without realizing that they are learning because the academic information is hidden in the activities of the games. The games I am referring too are simulation games, which are games that dynamically represent real world processes and systems. In these simulations students are placed in computer generated settings where they have to make a decisions and experience the consequences. Stealth learning is a great way to get middle school students  and high school students to interact and become interested in the material. These simulations allow students to go on online adventures while they are learning pre algebra or even geography. Some of these games last a short amount of time , while others take longer to complete. The teacher can decided what format best fits the classroom, but there are many short stimulations for every grade level. Personally, I do not think I would use this form of learning as a teacher because of the grade level I plan on entering, but I could always change my mind. I do find these stimulations very interesting and intriguing. Students are basically entering virtual worlds and learning every step of the way.

The final point that caught my eye is digital games for learning, which is not a specific form of learning but it can be used towards learning. These digital games are computer and web-based games that have been designed with educational, instead of entertainment goals, in mind. There is a significant difference, for many students, between playing video games and taking classes in school. Students see games are active, challenging, and demanding of focus and concentration for problem solving, but students see school as passive and uninspiring . Therefor, educational games will peak a students interest while allowing them to focus on school work. I one hundred percent approve of educational games being used in the classroom. Nowadays all kids focus on is their video games, and tend to avoid their school work, but digital games for learning allow them to learn while focusing on the problems and having fun. Overall sounds like a great tool for most to all age and grade levels!



Citations:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Digital Blog Post D -Chapter 5

There are three different ways to search the internet, according to Chapter 5 of Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Free-text search, or full-text search, is the first form of searching described in the book. This type of search looks for the title, keyword, and description fields related to each word or resource you type into the search command. This type of searching is considered the most inclusive, this is because it tries to included as many things that relate to the words of topic you are searching. Free-text search is like google, an example of this is if you were to type the word "puppies" into a free-text search it would give you a lot of information on different types of puppies, and anything else related to the topic. This basically means that you will get many entries covering many different aspects of what you are searching for. This type of search function is great to use when first looking for information because of the wide variety of results, but it can also be time consuming. Since there are so many results it would be difficult to look through all of them, to figure out which ones you are actually able to use. For this reason, most people tend to use the two other ways to search the internet. These forms are keyword/exact match search and Boolean searches.

Keyword or exact match searches retrieve information based off the exact words or phrase that you put into the text box. Therefor, the word/phrase has to appear either in the title, as a keyword, or in the description fields of a resource for it to be included in the results. An example would be if you want to find information on how to train a puppy, you would have to put that in the text box with quotes around the words ("how to train a puppy").  This type of search function would be extremely useful to students in secondary and post secondary schooling because it would allow them to type the title of an article and find it vary easily. Also, the results would be more limited to what you search, and therefor it would be easier to find the webpages/articles that you would be able to use.

The final search function is Boolean search. This form of search uses the words AND, OR, and NOT to create a more complex search. The reason that it does this is because OR is less restrictive, because it will include any and all words or phrases joined by an exclusive OR. The word AND is also more restrictive because the search results must include all and any phrases that are joined by the word AND. Finally, NOT is used to exclude a certain word. An example would be if you were to search "puppies NOT cute puppies". Another example provided by the book is if you were to search "war NOT civil war". This type of search function would also be useful to students because it would limit search results and allow people to get a clear picture of what sources they can use.



By: Laura Ruiz on Worditout.com

 

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.