In the iTunes U section of iTunes, there is featured provider, WGBH, who provides some excellent videos than could be used for many classroom purposes. These videos are relatively short (around 2 to 3 minutes) and they are broken into age appropriate categories (K-5, 6-8, 9-12). Some of the videos I checked out, included 'A Night in the Coral Reef' that presented great visuals of the night life in these fascinating ocean areas, 'Precipitation' was a quick piece that gave visuals of rain, hail and snow, and the 'Solar Eclipse' video provides a demonstration of that event and explains how and why it happens. All three of these were in the K-5 group and all were simple in form and certainly geared to a younger audience. In the 9-12 section, I watched a video on the 'Charateristics of the Sun'. This video was more detailed and touched on it's subject in more depth, as it's purpose is for an older student.
As a teacher, access to these free videos can provide a great resource to help reinforce points, introduce new concepts, or to give the students a break from the usual bookwork! There are many videos available all clearly titled with subject information to make it easy to search for applicable material. As one of my professor's likes to say, there's no use reinventing the wheel. If there are free videos available, why not take advantage of them? Make learning more fun for our students AND in the process help better explain a concept with images.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Edutopia: The George Lucas Educational Foundation
Edutopia is a member driven organization that discusses what works in Public Education. One of their videos, talk about a program hosted by Heifer International, a non profit organization that helps supply livestock to poverty stricken parts of the world and helps teach them to better sustain themselves. They also have a five acre ranch in Arkansas, where students can visit and spend a night in their 'global village', created as a educational tool to teach about poverty and rustic living conditions. There's even a refuge group, where those assigned are not allowed to speak English and must find alternate ways to communicate with the others.
This program takes students out of their comfort zone and teaches them about hunger and poverty in a tangible way they get to actually experience. It may be temporary circumstances, but the lessons leave lasting impressions on the students who attend. Hands-on teaching is far more beneficial than lesson plans in a classroom. Here the students must work together to accomplish their goals, they understand frustrations associated with bartering and not having everything you need or want at your fingertips.
Another hands-on educational program is at Martin Luther King Junior Middle School in California. Here students start each day off in their outdoor classroom where they learn about gardening and spend time cultivating and growing their own food and plants. They learn to cook what they grow and these lessons are used as a way to incorporate academic lessons with real hands-on experiences. They tie in social studies, match and science skills to help teach students, often times without them realizing they're actually learning. It's fun and the kids seem to thrive in the program. Teaching them in fun, interesting ways, helps them to retain what they're learning and better understand when they have practical applications for the skills they're learning.
This program takes students out of their comfort zone and teaches them about hunger and poverty in a tangible way they get to actually experience. It may be temporary circumstances, but the lessons leave lasting impressions on the students who attend. Hands-on teaching is far more beneficial than lesson plans in a classroom. Here the students must work together to accomplish their goals, they understand frustrations associated with bartering and not having everything you need or want at your fingertips.
Another hands-on educational program is at Martin Luther King Junior Middle School in California. Here students start each day off in their outdoor classroom where they learn about gardening and spend time cultivating and growing their own food and plants. They learn to cook what they grow and these lessons are used as a way to incorporate academic lessons with real hands-on experiences. They tie in social studies, match and science skills to help teach students, often times without them realizing they're actually learning. It's fun and the kids seem to thrive in the program. Teaching them in fun, interesting ways, helps them to retain what they're learning and better understand when they have practical applications for the skills they're learning.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
iTunes University
iTunes University is Apple's answer to mobile learning. Through their iTunes software, they have a compiled a very expanse collection of online learning tools that are completely free for anyone to take advantage of. There are lectures on a variety of of subjects, from basic academics (math, science, language, literature, etc.) to educational resources (curriculum and teaching, educational leadership and learning resources) and many subjects in between. There are over 100,000 educational video and audio files, which can be accessed through the iTunes software on your computer, iPod or iPhone.
Most of the information is publicly accessed, but schools do have the option to create their own private areas where students can access information via a user id and password. With iTunes U, instruction can be accessed through virtually any sight, the learning comes to you. Students can watch or listen to educational lessons at their convenience and with the benefit of rewinding to ensure comprehension. As a student, this could be very beneficial. Imagine if lectures were available for download, where you can replay them at any time and catch missed information, or research an area you just don't get.
Teachers can search for resources to reinforce their classroom lectures by accessing videos that further discuss the concept or introduce a new one. There are many possibilities to how this great application can be used. In the digital world, we should take advantage of the technological aids out there and use them to our benefit.
Most of the information is publicly accessed, but schools do have the option to create their own private areas where students can access information via a user id and password. With iTunes U, instruction can be accessed through virtually any sight, the learning comes to you. Students can watch or listen to educational lessons at their convenience and with the benefit of rewinding to ensure comprehension. As a student, this could be very beneficial. Imagine if lectures were available for download, where you can replay them at any time and catch missed information, or research an area you just don't get.
Teachers can search for resources to reinforce their classroom lectures by accessing videos that further discuss the concept or introduce a new one. There are many possibilities to how this great application can be used. In the digital world, we should take advantage of the technological aids out there and use them to our benefit.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
iPods in Education
iPods are everywhere, so it seems obvious that they could be a great resource to help students in their learning. One article I found, explained how Louisa-Muscatine Elementary School began using iPods as a way to help special education students in the regular classroom with standardized testing. Test questions are recorded and students are then able to simultaneously read and listen as a way to help them better understand. They started the program in 2005 and continue to grow and expand it. It helps those special education students who are submersed in full inclusion settings and often need that little extra help.
In 2004, Duke University gave each incoming Freshman a free 20GB iPod to help foster technology in the classroom. Many of their lectures are available for download or are available to be recorded. What a great idea. Obviously, there is a great deal of costs associated with a give-a-way of this magnitude, and benefit only comes if there are practival educational resources easily available, but what a step into the technical world.
If technical inventions such as iPods, iPhones, or pre-recorded MP3 players can help better educate students, why not take advantage of the priviledges the 21st century has to offer? For students with special needs, they can play back test questions that may help to improve their test scores or allow lectures to be downloaded to reiterate a concept. The possibilities are endless, it's up to us how far we can imagine going.
In 2004, Duke University gave each incoming Freshman a free 20GB iPod to help foster technology in the classroom. Many of their lectures are available for download or are available to be recorded. What a great idea. Obviously, there is a great deal of costs associated with a give-a-way of this magnitude, and benefit only comes if there are practival educational resources easily available, but what a step into the technical world.
If technical inventions such as iPods, iPhones, or pre-recorded MP3 players can help better educate students, why not take advantage of the priviledges the 21st century has to offer? For students with special needs, they can play back test questions that may help to improve their test scores or allow lectures to be downloaded to reiterate a concept. The possibilities are endless, it's up to us how far we can imagine going.
Dr. Alice Christie's Website
Dr. Alice Christie is a lifelong educator, as declared on her website: alicechristie.org, and brings much of that experience to her website which is a wonderful resource for educational technology. The site is very informational for all levels of computer users, those less experience as well as those who are more experienced. For a beginner, she explains Instant Messaging and provides a list of the 'lingo' associated, she explains general internet functions and discusses internet safety.
There are many helpful resources available for anyone to take advantage of. She has rubrics available for download that coincide with teaching about Powerpoint, iMovie, Adobe Acrobat and many others. There is a also a section on Podcasting, where she gives ways to incorportate this technology into your K-12 classroom. There are links to many informative podcasts supplied, that could be very helpful to a teacher wanting to learn more.
It is obvious through her website, that Dr. Christie loves to educate others as well a vested interest in technology and the idea of constant learning. She has provided many examples, links, and information to help provide outlets for other educators to learn and grow.
There are many helpful resources available for anyone to take advantage of. She has rubrics available for download that coincide with teaching about Powerpoint, iMovie, Adobe Acrobat and many others. There is a also a section on Podcasting, where she gives ways to incorportate this technology into your K-12 classroom. There are links to many informative podcasts supplied, that could be very helpful to a teacher wanting to learn more.
It is obvious through her website, that Dr. Christie loves to educate others as well a vested interest in technology and the idea of constant learning. She has provided many examples, links, and information to help provide outlets for other educators to learn and grow.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Using Wikipedia as a Source
Wikipedia is available for all the world to see, more importantly, it is available for all the world to change. Wiki's are setup as informational web pages that allows anyone who can access them the power to modify or change their content. Sometimes this is helpful but often it can create misleading information.
The theory is that people can publish information on subjects from first hand knowledge, a collective database of sorts. Someone who has researched a particular idea can share or add what they know to an existing subject on Wikipedia and therefore build on the information. This creates a handy source to gather material on a wide variety of subjects, all in one area. The problem, is that everyone can edit the information and you must trust (sometimes mistakenly) that the information is valid.
Articles such as on the NPR website (Scanner Tracks Who's Changing What on Wikipedia) explain how this can create false statements, or 'bend the truth' to represent what an individual (or organization) wants the public to see. Examples given include large corporations such as Wal-Mart editing content about their stores to look more favorable. Edits to these wiki's leave identifying information that has been gathered together to show proof of these changes.
Because of these problems, wiki sites such as Wikipedia should never be used as a trusted source for citing information on reports or articles, or any item that is written as fact. For the most part, the details are probably fairly accurate but may contain a 'spin' put on them by an interested party. They certainly should not be considered non-biased. They are helpful when used as a starting point - a way to gather information that can be checked out through other respectable means, or as a quick source for a broad understanding. Wikipedia information is not the same as using verified factual encyclopedias, it just sounds similar.
The theory is that people can publish information on subjects from first hand knowledge, a collective database of sorts. Someone who has researched a particular idea can share or add what they know to an existing subject on Wikipedia and therefore build on the information. This creates a handy source to gather material on a wide variety of subjects, all in one area. The problem, is that everyone can edit the information and you must trust (sometimes mistakenly) that the information is valid.
Articles such as on the NPR website (Scanner Tracks Who's Changing What on Wikipedia) explain how this can create false statements, or 'bend the truth' to represent what an individual (or organization) wants the public to see. Examples given include large corporations such as Wal-Mart editing content about their stores to look more favorable. Edits to these wiki's leave identifying information that has been gathered together to show proof of these changes.
Because of these problems, wiki sites such as Wikipedia should never be used as a trusted source for citing information on reports or articles, or any item that is written as fact. For the most part, the details are probably fairly accurate but may contain a 'spin' put on them by an interested party. They certainly should not be considered non-biased. They are helpful when used as a starting point - a way to gather information that can be checked out through other respectable means, or as a quick source for a broad understanding. Wikipedia information is not the same as using verified factual encyclopedias, it just sounds similar.
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