Twitter Update Week 9

     The resource that I found during this week and that I shared through Twitter is about schools in Arlington, VA., that are taking the lead on innovation, they are investing on iPads for their students. They mention the advantages they found for students with iPads. They explain how students are able to use many different tools, activities and application that are going to help them in their understanding and make their learning experience better. Here is the link,

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/03/27/2456060/schools-across-the-country-bring.html

 

     Also I am following new people and organizations on Twitter. The people I am following are Floppy the Monster and CharlieTravers are educators interested in technology as well, and iSchoolSource is an education technology student that posts information about technology and different applications. I am also following MacRumors.com and Apple News that provide the more recent news and rumors about Apple products and about the company.

     The resources that I read from my classmates are Edutopia that is helpful information about education shared through Twitter and Scholastic Teachers which is another source from Twitter that provide helpful information about books  and education trends.   

 

Visualizing with Technologies

The second chapter I selected from the textbook is Chapter 9 Visualizing with Technologies. This chapter describes how we as educators can take advantage of visualization tools to engage our students and make them have a better understanding of all the concepts while implementing hand on activities with these kind of tools. Visualization tools are devices that allow us to share images with other people and can help us comprehend different concepts easily. Next I am going to mention some of these visualization tools.

·      Draw/Paint Programs – this type of software allows us to make our own drawings or sketches, they also allow us to change or fix pictures. These programs are very helpful in math, biology, science, and geography.

·      Digital Cameras and Mobile Phones – these devices allows us to take high-resolution pictures, we can use download those onto a computer to use them in any document. Also with mobile phones we can easily share the pictures we take with other people.

·      Video – There are many programs that allow us to create and record our own videos. Students are going to acquire many skills producing their own videos.

·      Digital Storytelling – By designing activities in which students are able to produce their own movie, they are going to be more engaged and interested on the topic. In digital storytelling, students can use a combination of video, pictures, photos, text and music to create their own movie. 

·      Video modeling and Feedback – With the use of videos students can learn a specific behavior. Also students can record themselves doing a specific activity and then be evaluated about their performance; this activity helps students evaluate themselves as well.   

With all these visualization tools available we can help our students develop many different skills. They are going to be able to work in a collaborative manner, they will enhance public relations, increase their creativity, and they will develop planning, producing and communication skills. So this is a very fun and innovative way in which we, as educators, can take advantage of technology and at the same time help our students learn in a better and original manner.

The visualization tools that I would like to explore are iMovie, Movie Maker and Google Earth.  iMovie is a Mac software that allows you to create your own movie and makes it easier for you to share it. iMovie can be installed in any apple product, such as laptops, computers, iPads and iPhones. By using this software you can create your own movie with the use of videos, pictures, text, transitions, slides, music and voiceover. The second tool is Movie Maker, that allows you to do the same thing that iMovie, but Movie Maker is used for Windows. The third tool is Google Earth, as mentioned in one of my posts, is a software that will allow students to see very detailed photos or satellite images of any place around the world, so it makes it easy and fun for anyone to navigate the Earth.    

 

People and Organizations I am Following on Twitter

I am following TEDTalks Updates which are conferences about different ideas for technology, entertainment and design that are available online. These conferences talk a lot about education and ideas about how to integrate technology into education. I am also following A Googler that is about news from Google and BBC Breaking News.  Eder Langhorne is one of the persons I am following; he is a consultant that helps schools and small businesses operate in the 21^st century and Bill French who is a technology entrepreneur.

 

I also checked two websites posted by my classmates, which are the following:

http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/  and,

http://edudemic.com/2011/12/15-flipped-classrooms/

The first website is about a magazine that offers different tips and advice about how technology can improve teaching. It also contains product reviews and case studies. The second one is about 15 schools using flipped classrooms, which are classrooms in which students watch different materials for their classes at home through the web, so classroom time can be used more effectively to answer questions and practice what they have learned. 

Websites found in Delicious during this week

     I found a link through Delicious to a YouTube video about the history of technology in education. The video shows a timeline, which starts from 30,000 B.C.E. with the cave drawings and it continues to show the most important technologies used though time. It is very interesting because it shows how the radio was used in education in 1920 and in 1930 teachers started using filmstrip projectors in class! I also was not aware the overhead projector was first used in 1940. It was in 1990 when the computers were introduced as an educational tool and SMART Boards interactive whiteboards in 1991. In 1995 the Internet was also integrated into teaching and from 2000 on technology has been advancing in an incredible way and it has been used to teach in a more effective manner. Here is the link of the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFwWWsz_X9s

    The other link I found using Delicious is about how to use blogs to integrate technology into a classroom. They explain what a blog is, and like we already know, it is a publishing tool that allows any person to publish text, graphics, pictures, links, comments, photos and different type of media. They mention how blogs are very effective when it comes to teaching, because they motivate students, they also offer the opportunity to students to read and write, they are also a highly effective collaborative tool, because students can comment on other blogs, give their opinion, discuss about a certain topic or peer review. Also teacher can use it as a tool to communicate more effectively with their students, because teachers can post handouts, homework, instructions, helpful links, notices, and also teachers can answer questions in their blogs.  Here is the link to this website:

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/47

Google and iPads as Tools for Learning Geography in Fifth Grade

Google and iPads are an excellent tool for elementary students when they are learning geography. In this project I will be focusing in fifth grade students. The learning objectives according to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Grade 5 are:

•         The student uses geographic tools to collect, analyze, and interpret data.
•         The student understands the concept of regions in the United States.
•         The student understands the location and patterns of settlement and the geographic factors that influence where people live.
•         The student understands how people adapt to and modify their environment.

I am going to start explaining how Google could be used to help students in fifth grade learn about geography. First of all there is Google Earth, that is a software that will allow students to see very detailed photos or satellite images of any place around the world. So you are free to navigate the through the Earth! Also with this tool you can use different layers of information. One is the Weather layer and it helps you see the different type of weather around the world. Another one is the borders and labels, this one is very helpful for children because it defines states, the capitals of each state, countries and continents. There is also the ocean layer, which gives you information about marine life and sea temperatures among other things.

Besides students can practice latitude and longitude by locating coordinates, they can also look for a place they know and look for the exact location of it. Something that I also find amazing is the time slider, which is a tool that shows you how the geography has changed over time.

There is also Google maps gives you the benefit of looking for any address around the world and give you specific direction to get there. Also you can select between streetview, map or satellite view.

Another helpful tool from Google is Panoramio, which allows you to see many different pictures from all over the world. From here you can select between the map, satellite and hybrid view. You can browse for any place you would like to see pictures of. These were the most helpful tools I found from Google for children to learn geography.

From iPads we have different applications children can use. What is great about using iPads is that children love to use them; they are just amazed with them. So as educators, we can take advantage of this and have them use them in a way that is going to benefit them and help them learn.

The ipads already have the Maps application installed and it works just as the Google maps tool. Like mentioned before, with an iPad you can download many different application that are going to help children learn. One of them is Learn Geography which helps children learn the location of countries and states in a map and also to learn all the capitals through the use of flashcards and maps, and it also provides feedback. There is another application called Stack the States which through games helps you learn the name of every state, its location and geographical information about each state. Another fun and helpful application is the  iLearn: US States which helps children learn in a fun way the names of each state, its capital, different facts about each state, such as its flag, bird, and statehood. Students can review the information, play games, and also be tested.

There is also an application called the United States Puzzle Map, which contains puzzles with maps of the United States and each piece is a state, students just have to drag each state to its location until they complete the puzzle. There is also the National Geographic for kids magazine application available with photo galleries, information, games, quizzes and puzzles. And the National Geographic World Atlas HD, which offers high-resolution images of maps from the whole world. It has an interactive 3D globe, which you can spin or rotate, you can also select between classic, executive or satellite view.  It also shows the world flags and facts and you can even bookmark your favorite places with pins.

So with all these tools available you can make your students work in groups and assign each group a region of the United States. They will have to provide maps with different views of each region, information, the weather, important facts and places of the states in each region including pictures. They also need to show and explain how the geography in each region has changed over time and show the location of it in the globe. 

Websites I found during this week using Delicious

The first website that I found is one about what people think about technology and education. It mentions how technology has become the main resource for students to learn as much as they can. The website also provides many different ideas about how to integrate technology effectively and appropriately into teaching and it also describes many activities that can be used with students from different grades and content areas. Here is the link:

http://www.delicious.com/stacks/view/Dnyeq8

The other website that I found talks about how almost every school has at least a computer lab, but how many teachers do not make an appropriate use of it. So it encourages teachers to develop activities that are going to engage and help students learn better during their time in the computer lab. It also mentions how important is technology nowadays and that is why we need to consider the use of computers as a right to every student that has access to them. Here is the link:

http://www.examiner.com/parenting-education-in-los-angeles/technology-elementary-education