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.