ED 527 Module 6 Blog Posting

Advantages of Technology in the Science Classroom:

There are numerous advantages of using technology in science classes.  Authentic online projects such as the GLOBE Program gives students the opportunity to be actively involved in scientific investigations (Robyler & Doering, 2013). The internet provides many authentic science activities which “connects science to students’ lives and life experiences” (Robyler & Doering, 2013, p.319).  Technology can also aide in scientific inquiry by helping students obtain information, collect data, and communicate results (Robyler & Doering, 2013).

Example of an Authentic Science Online Project, GLOBE Program:  http://globe.gov

Disadvantages of Technology in the Science Classroom:

One major disadvantage is the usage of virtual science labs (Robyler & Doering, 2013).  While these labs can expose students to experiments and lab activities, it is difficult to reap all the benefits of an actual hands-on lab such as dissections (Robyler & Doering, 2013).

Example of a Virtual Lab, Virtual Pig Dissection:  http://www.whitman.edu/content/virtualpig

Useful ED 527 Assignments:

The Instructional Management Software activity taught me many useful concepts.  Learning how to use mail merge is going to save me an enormous amount of time when disseminating information to parents/students.  The first day of school documents will also be beneficial in my real classes.  The Wiki was another extremely useful project. Until this class, I had never even heard of a Wiki.  Now that I feel comfortable with creating these, I will definitely incorporate Wikis into my classes.  Social bookmarking websites, widgets, and podcasts were all new to me as well.  I intend to continue to use all of these in my classroom.

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013).  Integrating educational technology into teaching (6^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

ED 527 Module 5 Blog Posting

Wiki:  Educators are using wikis in a variety of ways such as a means of communicating course content (Robyler & Doering, 2013). The following wiki is a good example of this usage:

http://highschoolbiologywiki.wikispaces.com/

I really like Mrs. Geist’s biology wiki.  It includes course content, activities, and a classroom blog. The wiki contains a lot of good information in a very organized manner.  I would definitely like to model my wiki similarly.

Podcasts:  Podcasts can be a useful tool in education especially given their ability to be “shared over the Internet for playback on the computer or personal media devices” (Robyler & Doering, 2013, p.224).  Here are two good examples of biology podcasts:

http://biopodcasts.blogspot.com/p/concept-2-cell.html

The above podcast is about cell parts and functions.  The video illustrations are great for studying/reviewing the concept.  This site even contains quizzes at the end of each podcast and a how to guide for making video podcasts.

http://craigbioscreencasts.blogspot.com/

The above podcast shows how a high school teacher might use podcasts in the classroom.  The teacher uses his podcasts for students who were absent or for those needing extra help or clarification on a topic.

Social Bookmarking Site:  Websites such as delicious allow users to organize their favorite websites much like a favorites or bookmarks file (Robyler & Doering, 2013).  The neat feature of these online organizers is that they can be accessed anywhere and can be shared with others (Robyler & Doering, 2013).

https://delicious.com/#rachelanne1

I have started following Rachel Marshall on Delicious (see above link).  Her science and educational websites are great for students and teachers alike.  I also like the way she has the sites tagged which makes them easy to find.

Widgets:  I embedded two widgets that use HTML which is the “internet standard for how web pages are formatted and displayed” (Robyler & Doering, 2013, p.249).  On the right hand side of my blog, you will see both widgets. 
The first widget is a news feed of science articles written for young people.  These would be great for bell ringer type activities or to show students real world applications of science. 
The second widget is an interactive periodic table which is an excellent reference tool for students. It would be much easier for students to use this periodic table instead of the usual one found in the back of textbooks. 

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013).  Integrating educational technology into teaching (6^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

 

ED 527 Module 4 Blog Posting

URLs:  What do URLs tell you/students about web sites?
URLs can tell you some basic information about a web site.  Perhaps the most telling portion of an internet address is the last three letters or the “domain designator” (Robyler & Doering, 2013, p.216). This can help both students and teachers to determine the type of content found at a website.  For example, .edu is for higher education institutions and .com is for commercial sites (Robyler & Doering, 2013).   

Search Engines:  How can learning to use search engines help you/students find better information?

Search engines can be extremely useful in finding information on the internet. General search engines such as Google can aide students and teachers in researching a particular topic/subject. By simply entering a word or phrase, these search engines provide a list of related resources. Search engines can also be used to locate a specific website or item on the internet.

Internet Tool: How might you use an internet tool in a classroom?

I look forward to incorporating wikis in my classroom.  I hope that by the conclusion of this course, I will feel confident in integrating this internet tool into my normal instruction. I would like to use the wiki as a source for course content and eventually as a more interactive tool for my students.

Web-Based Lesson:  Discuss a web site where students could access or you could create a web-based lesson.

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History website provides an assortment of web-based lessons that could be utilized in almost any science course.  The activities span a wide range of age levels and could be incorporated into classroom lessons or units. The website offers the best of the Smithsonian museums without actually having to visit Washington, D.C.
http://www.mnh.si.edu/education/studentactivities.html

 

Favorite Web Sites: Post two web sites and talk about why they will be beneficial to teachers and/or students.

http://sciencenetlinks.com/
Science NetLinks is a K-12 science education resource produced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. This is one of my favorite websites because it provides teaching tools, lessons, podcasts, and hands-on activities. Science NetLinks’ online content is effective because it “purposefully and strategically engages the learner” (Robyler & Doering, 2013, p.226).  The website also exhibits “good structure and organization” by categorizing each resource by subject, type, and age level (Robyler & Doering, 2013, p.255). 

http://www.eric.ed.gov/

ERIC, the Education Resources Information Center, is an excellent website for educators.  It is an online database of educational research and information. This website is effective because it provides “easy navigation” even with such a large database of resources (Robyler & Doering, 2013, p.255).  ERIC is an invaluable tool for educators in locating not only scholarly articles but reliable links for certain topics.  In essence, this website serves as an educational “search engine” (Robyler & Doering, 2013, p.219).

 

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013).  Integrating educational technology into teaching (6^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

ED 527 Module 3 Blog Posting

 Technological advances can be used to vastly improve education.  Hypermedia products are one such tool which can enhance instructional methods (Robyler & Doering, 2013).  Reference materials no longer consist of simply physical books in a library.  Many reference materials can be found “on the Internet for little to no cost” (Robyler & Doering, 2013, p.175).  These commercial hypermedia products include encyclopedias, newspapers, and almanacs (Robyler & Doering, 2013). 

The U.S. Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health offer an online medical encyclopedia which would be extremely useful in my biology classes.  The following link accesses this collection of articles, information, medical photographs, and illustrations: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html.  My students could use this reference material to complete a genetic disorder pamphlet that I assign during a unit on heredity.  Students are given a rubric detailing all the facts needed for the pamphlet such as causes, symptoms, and treatments.  Medline Plus contains all this information and is easily accessible.    Students could also use the medical encyclopedia for photographs and/or illustrations to be included in their finished product.   The medical encyclopedia might be utilized in various secondary science and health courses.

The Medline Plus site also includes an extensive assortment of videos, interactive tutorials, quizzes, and games.  The following video illustrates the anatomy and workings of the cardiovascular system.  Students could use this in preparation for dissections and when studying human body systems.  (You must have Apple QuickTime to view the video.)
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/anatomyvideos/000023.htm 

Multimedia authoring tools allow people of all skill levels to produce professional hypermedia products (Robyler & Doering, 2013).  Working with these tools can also help to prepare students for the “information-intensive and visually oriented world of the future” (Robyler & Doering, 2013, p.178).  Audio and video production and editing systems is a type of multimedia authoring that gives users the ability to produce high quality videos.  In the classroom, students could use such tools to create presentations.  For example, in my biology classes we have a CELL-abration Day in which students are asked to use their creativity in presenting information about cells.  Past student presentations have included poetry readings, songs, dramatic performances, original artwork, and videos.  I see endless possibilities if students were able to use these multimedia authoring tools in the classroom.  As a teacher, I could also employ audio and video editors for students who miss labs, demonstrations, and/or lectures.

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013).  Integrating educational technology into teaching (6^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

 

ED 527 Module 2 Blog Posting

Instructional software can play an important role in today’s classroom. With a wide variety of instructional software available, teachers can easily find tools to meet the needs of their students. Instructional software is meant to “empower teachers, rather than replace them” (Robyler & Doering, 2013, p. 77). 

The following are types of instructional software and examples of each:

1.)     Drill and Practice software allows students to practice various skills and learn content material through drill exercises.  Research has proven that drill and practice can help students “transfer newly learned information into long-term memory” (Robyler & Doering, 2013, p. 84).   Flash cards are a common drill and practice tool.  Quizlet allows students to create their own flash cards.  It is free, simple to use, and can be useful in studying for almost any subject matter especially involving vocabulary terms.  http://quizlet.com/

2.)    Tutorial software provides content material, activities, and assessments (Robyler & Doering, 2013).  ChemCollective is an online resource for teaching and learning chemistry.  It contains tutorials on many chemistry topics such as stoichiometry.  The tutorial software walks students through solving chemistry problems which can be beneficial for those needing extra assistance. http://chemcollective.org/tutorials

3.)    Simulation software can be especially useful in science courses.  For example, virtual dissections give students the opportunity to dissect a specimen without the need of being in an actual lab.  Virtual dissection software can be less costly than purchasing the actual specimen (Robyler & Doering, 2013).  It is also a good alternative for students who may have issues with dissecting.  The Virtual Frog Dissection Educational App would be perfect for biology students.  http://www.frogvirtualdissection.com/

4.)      Instructional Games provide students with opportunities to learn content in an interactive and entertaining manner.  The Mr. Nussbaum site has science games geared for elementary students.  Games such as Animal Idol are a fun way for students to learn.  http://mrnussbaum.com/scigames/

5.)    Problem Solving software such as STEM Collaborative takes students through an online adventure which includes many opportunities for solving content-area problems.  The Scale City activity would be helpful in my biology classes when I introduce the concept of scale.  It could also fit nicely in a math course.  http://www.ket.org/scalecity/

6.)    Integrated Learning Systems include computer-based instruction with the ability to track student progress (Robyler & Doering, 2013).  ILSs such as Carnegie Learning can be useful in remediating students. Carnegie Learning offers curricula in the areas of math which could assist students in mastering required standards.  http://www.carnegielearning.com/secondary-curricula/

7.)    Software Support Tools can offer many benefits.  Materials generators allow students and teachers alike to create enhanced products.  Microsoft Publisher has been an integral part of my classes for many years.  My students use Microsoft Publisher to complete class projects such as a Genetic Disorder Pamphlet.  Personally, I use it to create class newsletters.  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/

8.)    Graphics Tools are also considered to be Software Support Tools.  SmartDraw allows students to create charts/graphs using data.  This is particularly useful in my biology classes when analyzing experimental data results.  http://www.smartdraw.com/

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013).  Integrating educational technology into teaching (6^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

ED 527 Module 1 Blog Posting

As technological advances continue to change the face of education in the United States, issues of equity abound.  While technology can be effectively utilized in the classroom, it also can create even a further divide among gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic groups (Robyler & Doering, 2013).  This has been a concern dating back many decades and continues to be an obstacle for educators to overcome.  Known as the “Digital Divide,” students do not have equal access to technological devices or the training needed to use them for educational purposes (Robyler & Doering, 2013, p. 17).  A typical class includes a wide variety of students with diverse backgrounds.  Teachers are thus left with the job of trying to level the playing field for all their students.  Problems can arise when assignments and or projects require a technology that a child might not have access to at home.  In many cases, children simply do not have the support to successfully complete such activities even if the technology is available in the home (Robyler & Doering, 2013).  Unfortunately, good intentions on the part of a teacher can put these children at a further disadvantage. 

One possible remedy to the Digital Divide is distance education.  Many schools systems lack the resources needed to offer advanced courses.  In more impoverished schools, distance education can enhance student learning by providing opportunities that normally would only be available in affluent school systems.  Distance education can be a double edged sword though when it comes to equity issues.  Not all students have the skills needed to succeed in distance learning and dropout rates are higher for online courses (Robyler & Doering, 2013).

In order for distance education to be effective, it should incorporate a variety of learning methods.  For instance, directed instruction can be beneficial especially when a teacher is physically present to help guide student learning.  Many times, resources do not allow for a highly qualified instructor to be in a distance learning lab which may leave students struggling as independent learners.  To address various learning styles, distance education should also include teaching methods that adhere to constructivist theories.  This might include cooperative work and problem solving scenarios (Roblyer & Doering, 2013).  When implemented properly, distance education promises to play a pivotal role in narrowing the Digital Divide.

For more information on how distance learning is being utilized in Alabama, visit the ACCESS website:  http://accessdl.state.al.us/

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013).  Integrating educational technology into teaching (6^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

 

Hello

Looking forward to an exciting semester at UM.  Hope to learn much about integrating technology into my classroom!