Saturday, September 25, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
Technology at home
As I am not teaching yet, my technology inventory will be short. Growing up, technology in the classroom included overhead projectors (on a good day) and calculators (brought from home). I even ran a ditto machine! Oh, how things have changed....
At home, we have internet with a broadband connection. We use Skype, gmail, Facebook and blogs to stay in touch with family (San Francisco, Colorado, Russia), DVR and NetFlix (does that count?), scanner, printer, fax with the scanner (though I've never used it), one daughter has an iTouch, 2 laptops (sadly, neither is mine), 4 of us have iPods on which we also listen to podcasts (Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is one of my favorites). We still have a land line but also have 3 cell phones (mom, dad, 16 year old) with texting.
Skype is our newest toy and I can think of a plethora of great uses in the classroom. "Pen pals" are now email pals and Skype would be a great way to talk face to face between emails. We emailed friends in Poland we met through Odyssey of the Mind. I'll have to reconnect and see if they have Skype. Some authors host Skype discussions, I understand, which must be cheaper for all involved than hosting an author in person. (In person would be best but the funds are not always available).
The newest technology in my kids' classrooms is the interactive white board. All the core classrooms at the high school and middle school and all the elementary classrooms have them this year. The fourth grader's teacher uses his daily. Starting with attendance, my son says he uses it for math, language arts, and science mostly. They have watched some videos (fainting goats - genetics), gone on a virtual tour (Mackinac Island - they take a trip in May - and in fourth grade Michigan is a big part of the social studies curriculum), studied geometry with 3D models, etc.
My middle schooler is in the PEAKS program and her core teachers are working toward a textbook free classroom. All the students will have laptops and the classrooms will be equipped with synchronized interactive whiteboards. Interesting concept. I know my high schooler appreciates online textbooks so she doesn't have to lug hers home. I have a hard time reading textbooks (or anything long) on the computer. My eyes tire fast.
The high school teachers use their boards mostly as glorified white boards, according to my junior. But she has only been in 5 classrooms so far this school year.
The (elementary) teachers take attendance on their computers, have easy access to students' emergency phone numbers (nice last year when our field trip bus didn't show and we had to get permission to have parents drive), grades are on computer, and for the middle and high schoolers, I can access their grades online. I can also put lunch money on their account. I have much more access to the teachers and I would think it is easier on them to answer an email than a phone call. Email notices about upcoming events and school newsletters is helpful and ecologically friendly.
At home, we have internet with a broadband connection. We use Skype, gmail, Facebook and blogs to stay in touch with family (San Francisco, Colorado, Russia), DVR and NetFlix (does that count?), scanner, printer, fax with the scanner (though I've never used it), one daughter has an iTouch, 2 laptops (sadly, neither is mine), 4 of us have iPods on which we also listen to podcasts (Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me is one of my favorites). We still have a land line but also have 3 cell phones (mom, dad, 16 year old) with texting.
Skype is our newest toy and I can think of a plethora of great uses in the classroom. "Pen pals" are now email pals and Skype would be a great way to talk face to face between emails. We emailed friends in Poland we met through Odyssey of the Mind. I'll have to reconnect and see if they have Skype. Some authors host Skype discussions, I understand, which must be cheaper for all involved than hosting an author in person. (In person would be best but the funds are not always available).
The newest technology in my kids' classrooms is the interactive white board. All the core classrooms at the high school and middle school and all the elementary classrooms have them this year. The fourth grader's teacher uses his daily. Starting with attendance, my son says he uses it for math, language arts, and science mostly. They have watched some videos (fainting goats - genetics), gone on a virtual tour (Mackinac Island - they take a trip in May - and in fourth grade Michigan is a big part of the social studies curriculum), studied geometry with 3D models, etc.
My middle schooler is in the PEAKS program and her core teachers are working toward a textbook free classroom. All the students will have laptops and the classrooms will be equipped with synchronized interactive whiteboards. Interesting concept. I know my high schooler appreciates online textbooks so she doesn't have to lug hers home. I have a hard time reading textbooks (or anything long) on the computer. My eyes tire fast.
The high school teachers use their boards mostly as glorified white boards, according to my junior. But she has only been in 5 classrooms so far this school year.
The (elementary) teachers take attendance on their computers, have easy access to students' emergency phone numbers (nice last year when our field trip bus didn't show and we had to get permission to have parents drive), grades are on computer, and for the middle and high schoolers, I can access their grades online. I can also put lunch money on their account. I have much more access to the teachers and I would think it is easier on them to answer an email than a phone call. Email notices about upcoming events and school newsletters is helpful and ecologically friendly.
I'd have to say, coming back to school after many years, one of the biggest hurdles was figuring out blackboard. I had used email, Excel, Word, etc., but that was the extent of my knowledge. I think there should be a grading curve for those of us who were not born with a silver iTouch in our hands! :)
I would like to see every student with a laptop, either full time or at least part of the day at school. There are so many applications they could use. Instant feedback on quizzes would be beneficial to teachers. If all the students got a particular part of the test wrong, the teacher would know immediately that the content would have to be taught again.
I hope to get more comfortable with what is available and how to use it, in terms of education technology. The "how to use it" is, I think, what is keeping teachers from using all available technology, and using it well, in their classrooms. Sometimes it's a matter of needing more training and sometimes, just having the time, courage, and initiative to jump in.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Virgin Post
Here it is...my practice post. Does it have to do with technology and education? I think computers are a necessary evil but hope this class improves that opinion...we'll see. My kids start school tomorrow - 4th, 6th and 10th. Yikes!
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