Learning from Student's Projects

Students learn a great deal from each other. Having students work individually on projects is a great way to get students to do research a variety of different topics through different technological resources. Students are able to incorporate audio, visual and tactile components into their projects. Having the students present/explain their projects to others is an extremely beneficial activity for the students to accomplish because it requires them to truly understand the concepts that are incorporated into their projects.

WebQuests In the Classroom

Solar system WebQuests in the classroom are great activities to incorporate into the classroom because they create hands-on experiences for students. The students are able to gain a deeper understanding of the concepts while creating their own personal experiences. These experiences allow the students to relate the material. A WebQuest teaches students to find information in readings without having to read multiple different books. The students are able to use all the new technologies and resources available and all they need is a worksheet and internet access. There are many different WebQuests available for educational purposes that can be incorporated into the classroom.

Compare and Contrast Web 2.0

College Students 

This video was basically about how college students use technology in today's classrooms. The fact that reading and writing on paper is becoming nonexistent and computers are being used now more than ever.Technology has changed the classroom and lives of everyone especially college students. Most of them are on their computer doing things other than paying attention in class. It is sad to say that more than half of a class is most likely playing games, facebooking, working on other assignments, etc.

K-12 Students

The technology in the K-12 classroom is much different than how it is used at the college level. In the K-12 classroom most the teachers haven't seen the current technology and because technology is constantly changing it is really hard to keep the most up-dated technology in the classroom. I think it is important to realize that just because technology is in the classroom doesn't mean that teachers understand how to use it and most importantly are using it. Most the times the students know more about the new technology than the teachers. If teachers are not up to date with the new technology the students are missing out and falling behind. The technology that is coming out today will be used by these students when they finish school and head out to the "real world". It is important for teachers to incorporate technology and interactive activities into their classrooms so students will have previous exposure to the technology they will use in the job setting.

There is a constant requirement that students can think outside the box and by requiring them to do interact activities allows them to actually manipulate the concepts and in turn gain a better understanding of the material. With my mathematics and science background I have learned many ways to incorporate technology into the classroom through experiments and on-line manipulation activities. The students want to be challenged and want to learn!! This is a great thing and the fact that they want to learn with technology is even better. We should be allowing them to do this. If we don't understand the technology they want to use we as teachers should do the research and find a way for the students to learn while being interested in the material.

Web 2.0

I really don't have any clue what Web 2.0 is, I am assuming that has something to do the the internet and the world-wide web.After watching this video my understanding of Web 2.0 is the social network behind the web. The sharing and collaboration of information between people. This social network has created a community where people interact and communicate with one another. People are continuously changing and evolving the social network.

Instruction Software Video Reflection

This was a video about using different instructional software to teach students to the curriculum through student experiences. When students have the opportunity to use instructional software the are able to draw  connections to real-life examples and personal experiences. In this specific example the students were creating a virtual business using excel and the internet. Students are able to manipulate characteristics to determine how they would effect the outcome of the business.

I think the biggest draw back of this video is that it was pretty out-dated. In today's technology there are virtual worlds, such as SecondLife. These virtual worlds allow students to interact with each other and many others. Students have the opportunities to interact with professionals and other experts. This can be a great tool for students and teachers to use to further their knowledge. This video is a good example of the basics of instructional technology that should be incorporated into the classroom. However, it is important for teachers to know the different ways of incorporating these technologies into their content area.

The Poor Scholar's Soliloquy: By Stephen M. Corey Reflection

https://educat.nmu.edu/moodle/file.php/977/THE%20POOR%20SCHOLAR.htm

I would say this boys main problem is that he is not interested in the topics. If I were the teacher I would ask him what he was interested in, maybe get a couple suggestions that I could incorporate into the class lessons. I would also want to explain to him that sometimes there are things in school that we need to learn in order to understand further concepts. If the student is uninterested in the material he will not be able to make connections to his everyday life. 

I think most teachers don't like this student because he is a challenge to them. I would love to have this student in class because he would be a challenge for me to find interesting things to tie into the concepts I am presenting to the students. This would help me incorporate students interests into the classroom. Along with this it would allow me to learn from both research and my future students, which will allow me to further my knowledge.

I don't think this student is slow, I just think that his literacy is lacking. I think this student is a really bright student, he just needs to be motivated a little more. He definitely has skills and abilities in specific areas. School might not be for this student, but I don't think he should just drop out of school and not continue his education. School isn't for everyone, some students would do better in a different type of school setting. For this student a hands-on activity program, such as a mathematics and science center might be more beneficial for this student. There are many other alternatives out there this student could take advantage of. 

Learning Styles Don't Exist Reflection

I disagreed with this video for a couple different reasons. I think there are different learning styles such as, visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc. However, I think people learn in many different ways and if anyone is presented the information in multiple different ways it can be more beneficial then just getting the information once in one way. I think that it is important for teachers to teach to all the learning styles. Presenting information in many different ways will appeal to all students. Everyone does not have the same prior knowledge and experiences and if teachers are able to present information in ways that allow students to create connections to their personal experiences, the students will be more likely to gain a true understanding of the material.


The video explained that there are no learning styles that students do not learn directly through one type of learning. The video also expressed the fact that all learning is meaning based. I think it is important for educators to create meaningful experiences for students to draw connections to their personal experiences.