Software is designed to be easily accessable and user friendly. When considering large scale puchases, which is why I assume there is a committe, cost is probably one of the first concerns, what is our budget? I personally feel "you get what you pay for", the extra expense involved with some software may be well worth it to save yourself and collegues time and frustration . It is the last item on the evaluation rubric so maybe others feel that way too.
Active Learning is also one of the criteria. Something I feel is imparative to education. There is no point in letting students mindlessly work through math problems. The program for me would need to be able to make them think and challenge them. One of my software choices was a math program. Elemetary students have so many facts they need to memorize.There has to be software that would let them practice and motivate students who do not want to use flashcards.
Grade level and State Standards are closely enough related that to get the best of one, the other would follow. Standards are important in making sure the lessons you teach are what students need to know to be able to move on. Grade level appropriate would depend on the student. Some will be ahead and some behind. I would want software that covers a broad area, at least a grade above and below the grade I was taeching. The versatility in the software would allow most if not all my students to be able to use a computer to practice at their level.
Writing and reading software were my other two choices. The evaluation of the hardware compatibility and save features are more important here. The math practice could be stopped and started without necessarily needing to be saved, but reports, projects, anything we are building or working on in steps would need to be able to be easily accessable and available to be printed, downloaded, manipulated and edited easliy.
I do not know enough about software to truly know what to look for. As I was considering the rubric, I was thinking what would be the easiest most time and cost effective software? I do not want to spend hours trying to teach third graders how to download information. But then it occured to me, that is what we deal with on a regular basis and why tech support and help features are evalated as well. One of the lessons in using the computer in any classroom could be how to problem solve and locate support for the issues you are experiencing with your system. I do not think the poor columns on the evaluation rubric are meant for that pupose but maybe something I would like to see considered, as the committe makes their choice. I would not choose anything I felt was poor but definatly would consider software that would allow my students to try and remedy the problems that arise.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Digital Tools
Digital tools in the classroom all come down to funding. How much money does a corporation have to spend on these items for the classroom. An easy answer when budgets everywhere are being slashed and extras like physical education, music, art, and gifted and talented programs are being cut.
The appliances mentioned in the book are nothing new. Over the last ten years we have all seen this technology develop and evolve from state of the art, only used by those in the know or professionals, into everyday, every person has them, gadgets. This does create a more affordable product and make them possible to some extent in the classroom. I think deciding which tech options will be the most utilitarian for me will be how I decide what to add if there is funding available.
The classrooms I have been in over the last couple years had very little, nothing really, in the way of cameras, video recorders, or computers. There were computer labs the entire school shared, that's about it. My hope is there is money for technology out there somewhere, I just have to figure out how to apply for it. Possibly as time goes on technology can be further integrated and instead of there only being a computer lab, the necessity of each child needing their own on a daily basis will be realized and materialize.
What I am more interested in for this weeks lesson are the videos we were to watch. Particularly Chris Opitz and the videos on project lead classrooms. Randy Nelson from Pixar had some great points on collaboration and communication. I have spent a bit of time considering them and have taken notes on the speakers to be able to do more research.
The collaborative learning, multiple intelligence, project lead classrooms fascinate me as future educator. I am not sure if I am right and fear I will not know until I am in a classroom, but it seems we give children information, they learn it and give it back during a test, but do they understand how to apply what they have learned. Do they learn how to think? If we can develop all the ideas within these theories, which some teachers have but they are few and far between, into a new nationwide approach to education, which is what the speakers are trying to encourage, it would revolutionize education. I'm not sure all of their ideas would be applicable in every class, there are some things students just have to learn and while we could use these techniques it may be more efficient not to. The point is the social skills, in-depth learning, and true understanding of what and why they are learning.
Some of the ideas in the videos are a bit too Montessori method for me. This means they imply students will learn because they want to, which may be true of some but certainly not all students. As a classroom manager it would still be my job to try and inspire the intrinsic motivation they need to receive the most from their education. The social skills, respect, and acceptance given and learned by the students are life skills we all need to make the world better.
The appliances mentioned in the book are nothing new. Over the last ten years we have all seen this technology develop and evolve from state of the art, only used by those in the know or professionals, into everyday, every person has them, gadgets. This does create a more affordable product and make them possible to some extent in the classroom. I think deciding which tech options will be the most utilitarian for me will be how I decide what to add if there is funding available.
The classrooms I have been in over the last couple years had very little, nothing really, in the way of cameras, video recorders, or computers. There were computer labs the entire school shared, that's about it. My hope is there is money for technology out there somewhere, I just have to figure out how to apply for it. Possibly as time goes on technology can be further integrated and instead of there only being a computer lab, the necessity of each child needing their own on a daily basis will be realized and materialize.
What I am more interested in for this weeks lesson are the videos we were to watch. Particularly Chris Opitz and the videos on project lead classrooms. Randy Nelson from Pixar had some great points on collaboration and communication. I have spent a bit of time considering them and have taken notes on the speakers to be able to do more research.
The collaborative learning, multiple intelligence, project lead classrooms fascinate me as future educator. I am not sure if I am right and fear I will not know until I am in a classroom, but it seems we give children information, they learn it and give it back during a test, but do they understand how to apply what they have learned. Do they learn how to think? If we can develop all the ideas within these theories, which some teachers have but they are few and far between, into a new nationwide approach to education, which is what the speakers are trying to encourage, it would revolutionize education. I'm not sure all of their ideas would be applicable in every class, there are some things students just have to learn and while we could use these techniques it may be more efficient not to. The point is the social skills, in-depth learning, and true understanding of what and why they are learning.
Some of the ideas in the videos are a bit too Montessori method for me. This means they imply students will learn because they want to, which may be true of some but certainly not all students. As a classroom manager it would still be my job to try and inspire the intrinsic motivation they need to receive the most from their education. The social skills, respect, and acceptance given and learned by the students are life skills we all need to make the world better.
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