The following you tube provides an overview on some of the reasons for the inclusion and effective use of technology in the classroom.... It really does get you thinking...
A Vision of Students Today
The You-Tube above was put together by Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Digital Ethnography, Kansas State University. Go to mwesch's Channel to access other great videos on the implications of the use of technology in education.
Another great video that provides a similar message is that from Sugata Mitra: Can Kids Teach Themselves. He presented at the TED conference in 2008. Another video that provides insight into the power of technology in education.
Each subject you will teach will have specific technology tools that will be so useful. However, the delivery of your lesson, and the capabilities that technology provides that enable students to collaborate and develop projects is the key. This is why I am a fan of Web 2.0 technology in the classroom. When developing my units of work, and how I will use technology, I consider the following questions:
- What impact will it have on what is learnt?
- What impact will it have on how students learn?
- What impact will it have on where students learn?
What is Web 2.0?
The following You Tube provides an overview of how Web 2.0 has changed the internet.
The presentation above was something that I created. You can then embed this in your blog using a program called Slideshare. Become a member and then upload your powerpoints. This then allows you to clearly display the content on your blog.
There are new Web 2.0 Tools and Applications popping up everyday. It does become quite daunting trying to keep up with what could be useful to use in applying Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. One site, GO2Web2.0 provides a link to all types of tools and applications. You can search these via category or purpose.
Google Maps and Google Earth
Google Maps and Google Earth allow teachers to link important places and locations with information. I have used Google Maps as an assessment task for Geography students (Steph's Google Map of the Coastal Field Trip). However, history, politics and economics teachers will also find this Web 2.0 tool very useful. Below are some sites which promote the use of Google Maps and Google Earth in the humanities.
Turing's Tape: Google Earth for Humanities
Google Maps for your History Class
Bringing History Alive - Google Earth
ICT Tools to Use in Your Lessons
Wordle
A wordle is a toy that allows you to create word clouds from the text that you provide. They are a great brainstorming tool and allow students to gather their ideas on a topic. Instructions on how to create a wordle can be found by clicking on here. An example of a lesson where I used a wordle can be found here.
Newsmap
Newsmap is a great site that provides a spatial overview of the national or world news. It can be used to look at what the major news events are, but also allows for an anlysis of which news events have not featured, and begin to get the students to think about why.
Searching the Internet
We all know that Google and now Bing are not the only options for searching for information on the internet. Our task as teachers of 21st century students is to develop 'information literacy'. This can be defined as 'the capacity to identify an issue and then to identify, locate and evaluate relevant information in order to engage with it or to solve a problem arising'.
Some really good examples include Tag Galaxy, Arc, Kartoo, Flickr, News Spectrum, Bigspy, Stack, Swarm, Think Map Visual Thesaurus, Google News Cloud and Searchme Visual Search. These are all great sites so take the time to check them out.
YouTube and Online Videos
The popularity of you tube and other video sharing sites has made our life as teachers so much easier. There are issues with these videos, such as who has put them together, the advertisements and the content. However, it means that there are a number of ways that you can display information to your students (think multiple intelligences!) The list below are some sites that I have used to search for videos for my students.
The other issue is finding a video and only taking out the useful sections to embed on your blog. The following application - TubeChop - allows you to chop a funny or interesting section of a You Tube movie and embed it on your blog.
You can also create your own videos using a great program called Xtranormal, which uses the text you input and turns it into a movie. This is a great tool to use to present content or create discussion among students.
Games as an Education Tool
There are so many games, animations and online tools to enhance your lessons in humanities. Simply searching your subject and topic studied will provide a number of links. Once you have found a game, you then need to determine if it will be useful and how you will get your students thinking. Sometimes just playing the game is enough. However, you will need to consider the pre and post game activities in some cases. Some examples of games I have played include:
- Darfur is Dying - A game designed to display the desperate and complex situation in Sudan.
- BBC History - Viking Quest - Viking Quest takes you back to AD 793. Can you build a ship, cross the seas, loot a monastery and return home to claim your prize? Your chief has set the challenge, it's up to you to respond.
- Urban Planning Game - A very very simple game in which students need to design a city. Based on Sim City but the graphics are not as good. Great to get the students thinking about urban planning issues in Geography.
I have found blogging to be one of the best Web 2.0 tools available to me in the classroom. As a beginner, this was the easiest way to embed and link files, as well as provide instant access for my students. A blog also allows students to comment. There are a number of options available if you are interested in creating a blog for you class. Possible sites that I know teachers use are Edublogs or Global Teacher.
What is a Blog?
The following is a link to my class blog - Bec's Classes 2010 or RATW. This is my main teaching tool and I usually put together a new post for each lesson.
Video Tutorials for Edublogs are found here
Embedding a Video in Your Blog
The ability to embed movies into a blog is one of the main reasons that blogging is so useful. In my experience You Tube does have the best videos available. I suggest that you subscribe to You Tube, so that you can save favourite videos, as well as upload your own videos to embed on your blog. One issue is that many schools do block access to You Tube. One option is to see if teachers only have access to You Tube so that you can show the video files on your blog.
Great Teacher Blogs
Jess McCulloch - Notes to Self
Mr Robbo - The P.E Geek
Nings
Ning - An online social network that could work like a blog in your classroom. I have used a Ning in my Yr 10 Humanities class to enable students to provide an in-depth look at a leader. This ning was called 'Bec's Race Class - Leaders'
Some examples to have a look at in the education context include:
Ning in Education - Using Ning for Educational Social Networks
The Global Education Collaborative
David Rayner's Page Key Stage 3 Geography Ning
Wikis
I have to admit that I am still not an expert on the use of the wiki. It is a wonderful collaboration tool for students when they are working on a project. It is also particularly useful as we do not have a textbook, and over time it allows both the students and myself to create the content and knowledge needed for senior subjects. The settings on a wiki can also be changed so that they are more private than a blog. This allows the only selected students from selected classes to add to them. Wikis are also great tools to use for professional learning teams. Some wiki platforms that you could use are PB Wiki or Wikispaces.What is a Wiki?
The following powerpoint provides an overview on how to create your wiki.
Getting Started on Wikispaces
View more presentations from Jess Mcculloch.
Other Resources
The following resources may be useful when putting together your blogs or wikis, or discovering new Web 2.0 technologies for the classroom.
Web2.0 for the Classroom Teacher
Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators - Web 2.0 Tools
Directory of Educational Resources on the Web
Other Technologies to Consider
Podcasts are gradually becoming replaced by videos or vodcasts. However, there are still opportunities for you to subscribe to podcasts or vodcasts via an RSS feed. It is best to link to a Feed such as Google Reader so that you can subscribe to various podcasts and vodcasts. A lesson showing students how to subscribe to RSS Feeds can be found here - Getting Your News Online by Jess McCulloch.
Podcasts can also be recorded by you and uploaded to your blog. This can be done using programs such as Garageband and recorded on your computer. You can also use other applications that link recordings from your mobile phone directly to your blog. One example of this is a application called Utterli.
Mobile Phones and QR Codes
Mobile phones are great tools to use in the classroom. They can make videos, they can take images, they often have GPS locaters, they are calculators and they can record voice. The bluetooth and messaging applications of mobile phones can also be used. I have not used phones too much in the class, other than for basic image, voice and video recording. However, many teachers do. Mr Robbo - The PE Geek is an excellent example. A video that he has posted to You Tube from one of his lessons is below.
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