Presentations

I do know that I could have done better with my presentation today but since I had to go at it alone I had to play it by ear. This was a good thing simple because it forced me to change my plans in the middle of the ball game. This made me try to think on my feet and to be better prepared for the what ifs. I can not always depend on something and I must always have a back up plan. From now on I will try to always have a plan B just in case my plans fall through. This was a great learning experience for me and like I stated earlier I must always be ready for the unexpected.

The voice thread site seems like it could be a great tool for students. I know some subjects it might hard to use in some classroom setting but with a little work I can see the benefits for the students. Since I am going to teach history I can see different ways I can use this in my lessons. I think this can be a great when working with children with special needs. Using the voice thread would also be a great benefit for students with special needs. Since the voice thread do not require much as for expenses there is no reason why schools could not take advantage of this software. I know I will use this program not only will it benefit my gen. ed. students but this program will allow me to work with special needs students in a true classroom setting with their peers and that is the best kind of leaning, working with your peers.

My partner and I changed the topic of our powerpoint. We have decided to do ours on The Role of Technology in classrooms. Other than that we are doing great on our project.

The topic for our post is "Teachers' Capacity for Using Techonologies in school". I do think that our topic is coming along pretty good. I enjoy working with my partner. My partner is someone that I know from my major. I have had classes with him in the past and I know that he does great work. I have enjoyed working with him in the past and look forward to working with him in the future. I think my partner and I work great together. We stay in contact with each other in and outside of the classroom so I know this will be a fun experience for me and I hope that he feels the same about me.

I do think that teachers do need to try to match the technology the student use in the classroom. Online chatrooms and IM's are only good if they are used in a controlled setting. I know that chatrooms are much easier to controll but IM's should only be used if the students are mature enough to handle this form of media. There is a thin line when it comes to technology in the classroom. In some cases technology is a major plus but I do feel that if it is used to much the student will "zone out" and not focus as much on the lectures. I know I have done it so I figure that other students may do it as well. Each method of teaching is very important for a student to have a good education. I think in order to have a positive educational experience a student needs to be exposed to all forms of teaching methods. I think podcast are great when the student is not able to attend class but it should not be the norm. The instructor should only allow students who were absent to have access to the podcast and that the instructor need to have access codes that changes. Podcast need to use only as a supplement not a main form of instruction.
I have mixed feelings about video games. I will admit I am a gamer myself but I did learn something from games but it was not because of what I did it was from my sons. My sons love playing the Dynasty series of games. (did not mention the first part of the name because I cannnot spell it) It deals with Japan and China and I know my sons became interested in the Asian culture from these games. After playing my boys went online looked up the characters in the game and they found out that they were based on real people, as a result my boys have really got involved in Asian studies. One of my boys is even thinking about studing Asian history in college. So I do think video games can teach people but you have to use the games wisely. So yes I will continue to allow my twins to play video games now and in the future.

I like the http://del.icio.us/ website. This is a site that I know I will now and in the future. Using this site makes it easy for someone like me to keep up with all of my information. Being a history major it is great to know that I have access to a site the can keep up with all of my references. I will encourage my future students to use this site so they can a place to that can manage all of their works.

Week 5 Posting

I do like Wikis for entertainment purposes. I would not take them to serious because since they are done by anyone a person must be sure that the facts are correct. I would not allow any student I would teach to use them. For starters here a A & M the history department do now allow us to use these sites because they are unrealiable and I agree with the staff. There have been several cases in the media were someone had posted wrong information on these sites.

Yes you can learn more by taking the team approach the problem is your team is only as good as its members. I have seen several cases where teams have came up with great ideas and build on their thoughts. Now the down side of teams is that everyone has to do their part if not the project will fail. I know this first hand because when I was in ETEC 224 I had a partner who did not understand or did not want to do the work so in order for me pass the assignment I ended up doing the whole project myself.

Yes I do believe that students do have different learning styles. It not only their personality that effects they way they learn but also how excited they are about a topic. I do think the test can give a person some insight about how a student learn but we must remember that in order for the test to help the student must also realized that they have those trait within themselves and accept it.