Choosing Educational Software

First I want to say thanks for the web site to look at some educational software for elementary students. I really appreciated it. Anyways, this article was more for parents to find software for their children at home, but I found it helpful for me because it point out some good thoughts to keep in mind when looking for software. It is written with the point of informing parents and others how to go about getting good educational software. Some of the points that it makes is that age and level of software most be taken in to consideration fro developers and people who buy the software. There were to big points I found interesting when reading this article. These points were people can find software to buy and use. The two places the article said to find good software is the NEA catalog of educational software and stores were you can try out the software. I wasn't even aware that there were stores that you could buy software and try it out before you buy it. In general this was a great article to read to get some thoughts and concerns about software to use in my class. I wonder if there are any places around here in Gainesville. He is the link to the article: www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue52/choosing_educational_software.php

"Making History" Computer simulation

This article I read was about a company that has software called making history. The software is a simulation type program in which students play a game that uses actual events in history. In this case it is World War II. As a single player or multi player game the students take control of one of ten nations and have to compete against other nations and leaders while making economic, military, and policy issues. Like any other simulation game there is always an reaction for any action made. The company claims that this is a constructivist learning environment, which student use a higher-order cognitive skills to show leadership and critical thinking.
Some of the positive things about the game that educators can and materials to the database that they believe was left out and the program can be used to generate reports and track student progress. You can easily see this, because it encourages students to work out a nations problem on their own and have conflict resolutions that would differ from and even would have had better outcomes if history would have played out their way. My concern is that I worry about how much education knowledge is being learned. Yes it is an actual event with real countries, but once started the player will change the outcome and after a half hour it seems to me that the educational factor would be gone and it would just be a game. I feel that, without out actually testing it, that it would make a great fun game to use if students have time to spare but it should not be considered as a teaching tool for social studies. Maybe I'm too sceptical and my thoughts are wrong though.

Here is the link to the article: www.eschoollnews.com/news/PFshowstory.cfm?ArticleID=5862

Grade Level Software

Since my interest of study includes finding software to use in the classroom, I have been look at a lot of web sites that deal with software and selling software. This is difficult because the web site looks good and the product looks good, but how it runs may be a different story all together. From the readings in this class we know that there is such technology and software out there that really is a waste of money and time. This is what made finding this web page I found for this blog so nice. This page was a teachers web page that describe what the teacher doest in his computer lab with software. His opinion as a teacher makes it easier for me to decide if the software or activities are good. Since he is not a business trying to sell me a product and has experience working with the technology and software I can take his actions more seriously.
This man takes his computer lab time and breaks it down for students and parents so that what is happening in his class is know and easily accessible. He has each grade working on different uses of technology throughout kindergarten to fifth grade. For me, even though it was short and I would have like more ideas, his use of Oregon Trial and Where in the USA is Carmen SanDiego, tell me that these programs would be good programs to look into. It is not a sure thing that they will be good programs, but since a computer lab teacher is using them there is a good chance that they are worth while programs.
I know that you guys don't work in elementary schools, but if you know of any software programs I should check out for my fifth grade class, please let me know.

Her is the link: www.robertselementary.org/specialists/computer.html

The Media Equation

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my take on the reading this week is that the power of suggestion is very strong in media. Because of this people in reality may believe a suggestion or partial of a person or company. This lead me to two thoughts.
One is that as a was reading this I kept thinking of the Matrix movies. One guy has to learn that reality was not reality at all and that he could bend the truths if he believed in it. Though this is probably not the greatest example the movie suggest that perception can be changed by see and believing. Since this is a movie and we know that it is not reality we are aware that we can't stop object and slow down time, but as we read in the article it is because we are exposed to it. Children may watch these movies and believe that they can fly or run up walls, when in reality they can't. Movies are just one example of media that leaves the viewer with the belief of an alternate reality. Another example is commercials. I get a big laugh still when I see a Burger King commercial and the burger is so thick and put together well, when in reality to order one of these burgers only to get this squished thing that is falling apart. Another one is commercial about cleaners. You see that it works so well on television only to get it home and find out it doesn't work as well as lead to believe.
My second thought that because we know this and have lived with it we should be able to separate truth from "suggestion," but we still fall into the media trap. My thought then is our belief of suggestions an optimistic hope that life is easy and happy go lucky and everything is good or is it like the reading implies, where our brain's are to far behind media. Either way media will be present always so we need to learn to work with media and use it to help our understanding or the "real" world.
This needs to be kept in mind for me as I explore software to use in my fifth grade class. I will need to examine the software and make sure that it encourages the children and keeps them happy, which means the software I find and use must have different levels of difficulty to make sure that the user doesn't get frustrated and not want to use it. Also I need to make sure that the pictures and images represent the real world and not fictitious one.

Reference

Reeves, Byron, and Clifford Nass. 1996. “Ch 1, The Media Equation,” pp. 3-18 in The Media Equation. Cambridge University Press.

Effectiveness of Software

This article form the Washington Post was based on studies that said that software has little effect on students. Paley starts out by saying that the 2 billion dollar a year industry of making software has no significant impact on student performance (2007). I thought that this statement was weird because as a teacher I have see software get students more involved and even help them better understand the knowledge that I was trying to instill upon them. From there the article went on to basically put down software and the way that schools use the software. Paley stated that low preforming schools use this technology as an easy means to boost students test scores (2007). I believe this is true in some ways. Schools and teachers are under a tight watch with this No Child Left Behind program and they need to find a way to get the students to understand the information they need to understand, even if that means drill, drill, and more drill. Even with that I do agree that we as educators need to find the most effective way to use software in the classroom, but by no means should it be thought of as having no effect on learning. We all know that all students learn at a different pace and in different ways, technology and software give us one more way to present the curriculum and should not be overlooked.

Reference

Paley, A. 2007. "Educational software has little effect, finds study."
April 5, 2007 retrieved April 10, 2007, from:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2003652152&zsection_id=2002107549&slug=educate05&date=20070405

Making Good Educational Software

This article was an interview with an editor of Microsoft's Encarta Encyclopedia, Latha Menon. What I like about this article was that the interview was set up as Latha answers questions from people which mostly were teachers. As the article goes on Latha is ask some background information about how she got into Microsoft and editing software, but he meet of the article stressed the concerns with software in the educational setting. Throughout the article Latha stated that software has tremendous potential as a leaning tool, and we have to maximise the potential of it (1999). Latha also challenges us to think about the range of media that is out there to deliver learning outcomes to students, because she believes that you can waste media if you don't use it right (1999).
I liked that this article made me feel the technology is something that is a concern and an area of interest world wide. Due to this it is not something that we should overlook and hope that it never becomes an issue for us educators. Latha states, even in a village with one t.v., there is a huge potential for educational purposes (1999). That t.v. can display images, places, events, and ideas all of which we can maximise us a learning tool. I never really thought about it this way, but Latha has a point. Even if I don't have more than three computers in my class at least I have some and with them I have the opportunity to expose students to learning through technology and software. Thus giving them another way to support the knowledge I taught them and open them up to a world of more idea and learning.

For the whole interview click below:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/features/467124.stm

Reference
BBC News (1999). "What Makes Good Educational Software". retrieved from,http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/features/467124.stm

Radom Discussion

This is way off topic and may not pertain to high school teachers or college professors, but I thought it might be something to bring up even though it doesn't involve technology. Last night some friends and I were discussing the idea of requesting teachers and whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. For the most part schools do take request into consideration when placing students, but how far should schools go? Should one teacher get a whole class of requested students. Generally, from my past experiences, parents that request their students a teacher are parents that you get support from and the students have less behavior issues. The argument is that it is not fair for the other teachers if they get all the students in their class that have less supportive parents, this group would tend to have most of the lower students in it because it is believed that parents being involved with their students helps them grow. The case for the requests (my opinion) is that it is a reward for those teachers that take extra care in their students, strive to be the best and get a positive reputation, and over just go the extra mile to make teachers look professional. To many times I look around and see teachers mocking their students, talking about how much they dislike their job, or just acting like their job is not important. Teachers that work hard should get the benefits of having supportive parents in their class. If other teachers want to complain, which they do (at least in my case), they should work harder.
I know that this isn't a black and white area when it comes to teachers, but in my three years of experience I have seen this subject come up many times between teachers, administrators, and friends. What do you think?

Software Essentials

Well, we have looked at computers and technology in the classrooms over the last few weeks of blogging. With that we also talked adn discussed what is necessary to make the fullest possible learning environment using computers and technology in the classroom. As I plan on moving on to looking at software over the next week or two I feel it is important that we know what to look for in software that we will be exposing to our classrooms. The article that I read for today's blog is just that. It is a short easy read on what to look for in software that is being used in the classroom. This article can be found at: http://www.nsta.org/positionstatement&psid=4&print=y It is like I said an easy read in which you will find what criteria the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) thoughts and declarations on what software should be able to do to get the most out of it.

Improving Student's Learning

This is kind of a step back from where I was heading, but I found this study by a teacher that looks at the significances of using computers in the classroom. I know that we have talked to death about the importance of computers and technology in schools and all feel the same way, but as I skimmed thought the article the teacher talks about other studies that she looked at and what she thought about them. This paper gives us more evidence that technology is slowly making itself into schools and one teachers study on the effects of technology and software throughout her scholar and her research. It was an interesting read, even though I was not looking for it. I get back to discussing software in schools next blog. If interested here is the link: http://personalwebs.oakland.edu/~sjshea/project2printversion.html

Bullying Software

As I have been looking into software that I can use in my fifth grade class, I came across a really neat in short article that was about a bullying software program that teaches both parents and students what bullying is. This really appeals to me because I stress a high level of family and community in t=my class and hate to see my students being picked on. The web page look great unfortunately is was not as kid friendly as I hoped and the virtual school where the actual "game" for learning about bullying was not up and running. This site good be great and very helpful and I will be checking back from time to time to see if it is up and running. I will let you know when it is. Here is the link to the web site: www.e-circus.org

Custom Made Software

This article that I read today was a really cool idea to read about. It basically said that there is a school in Province that has a class creating software for teachers based around individual teachers needs and curriculum. I like this idea because the teacher knows that the software that they are getting is specifically tailored to the individual teachers needs. The article went on to quote some teachers and administrators responding to the class and the software that they created. I think more colleges should be doing this. U.F. is so good about helping teachers and schools around them that they should look into this kind of class. As a teacher I can tell you that I would love to get some software that helps teach the students the curriculum.

Here is the link to the article if you want to read the article: http://www.brown.edu/Administration/ George_Street_Journal/v20/v20n30/software.html

Evaluating Software

Now that I have talked about the importance of software for the past couple of weeks. I have decided it is time to move on to software and the use of software in the classroom. The web page that I checked out this week was for evaluating educational software. This is a good site to check out for both teachers and administration. It is pretty much just a check this of ideas that teaches need to keep in mind when finding software to use in the classroom. It was good to look at and study, but for me some of it was had to understand. The concept although was great and I do believe that software needs to be evaluated before teachers use it in class and I also believe that teachers need to make sure that they are using software productively in class.
Here is the link to the site: http://www.masterteacher.com/standards/charts/1283.pdf

Evaluating Technology

To finish up this week read an article that is from Indiana and states how technology needs to be evaluated in education. This is important because we need to hold teachers accountable that the technology that is being used in the classroom is being used for a good reason. As most would assume technology needs to support the criteria in which it is being used for. computers, software, and other technologies can provide a better and stronger learning environment for all students when used correctly. This speaker states that the main reasons for using the computer in school for instruction would include: curriculum development, instructional design, and assessments (Frick 2006). He also states that it can be used for school organizational systems by: offering leadership, professional development, policies, resources, and development of learning communities (Frick 2006).
This was a great article just to read up on what another state expects as we incorporate more and more technology into the classroom.

Frick, T. 2006, "Criteria for Evaluating Use of Technology in K-12 Education".
March 17, 2007 from: www.education.indiana.edu/keyfrick.html

Making Computer in Classrooms Work

I found this paper online that it seems a student wrote. I was sure if I was going to use it, but it did state some good points and after talking to my wife she said it might be useful for others to know what is needed. To me is was mostly pretty obvious, but he had many numbers and statistics to back up the information that we already know.
Basically this paper stated that computers are becoming more and more regular in the classroom and that the lack of knowledge of computers is hurting the incorporation of computers in the classroom. We all know that technology can frighten away people before they even try it. I think that is why I'm so interested in learning facts and ideas to get other teachers on board for the use of technology in the classroom. This scare makes it hard to use technology and computers to the fullest extent and get the most out of them. This problem needs to be fixed and fixed fast since computers are becoming very popular in society. One of the interesting statistics the write has is that, "80% of students with family incomes of 75,000 dollars or more use computers at home , while only 10% of students use computers at home with a family income of 10,000 dollars (Lee 1999). This means that there is a gap of students that are not getting any interaction with computers and technology, so we as teachers need to get it to them. In order for this to happen though teachers need the right training to use the computers and technology appropriately. The problem goes back to teachers being scare of technology, so what can be done. I laugh because I think of Bransford from our reading this week and picture his answer for this problem would be close to locking teachers in a room and tell them they can't go home until they figure out how to work computers and programs. Not getting to go home at the end of a day would really get that anxiety going.
Anyways, it was a good read to see what information in number form on information I already knew.

Here's the link:
Lee, N. 1999, "Computer Technology in the Classroom."
Retrieved March 13, 2007 from: http://www.msu.edu/~leenicho/paper4.htm

WI-FI Issues

Hey guys. I was recently talking to my head tech guy at my school and we were discussing the use of WI-FI in the school. You see out school is being drastically overhauled in the up coming years (which is really needed) and I was wondering if there were plans to make the school wireless. After that I ran into this article on the web about places trying to ban wireless. The article claimed that some schools reported that student had loss of concentration, headaches, memory loss, fatigue, and even behavior problems (Burson 2006). This has caused the school to chose not to use the wireless connections in which the school is ready for and have Burson 2006).
What is your feeling on this subject? I have a wireless connection at home and it is always on and I don't have these symptoms. At least not that I can remember (Ha-Ha). have you ever heard anything like this?



Burson, S. (2006). "MP Urges Ban On Wi-Fi Technology In Schools"
March 16, 2006, from http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/printable _version

Using Technology In The Classroom

The last article that I read for this week was an interesting article. It was from the Kentucky Department of Education and was posted as a PTA bulletin. What I liked about the article is that for me it gave me a comparison on what the belief of technology should be and where it is going in Florida and what other states are doing or planning to do with technology. It also gave me as an educator a chance to see what parents were expecting to see with the use of technology in the classroom. While there were many ideas and beliefs in this article from Kentucky that we in Florida are already using and implementing, there were a few new ideas and thoughts that I found interesting and feel we as a country should keep in mind as we continue as educators to integrate technology into the classroom.

Here is the web site to read the whole article:
www.education.ky.gov/KDE/Instructional+Resources/Technology

Computers In The Classroom

Getting computers in the classroom may seem like the tricky part of the using technology in the classroom, but that is only half of the work. Once you have computers in your classroom it is important to use them in a positive and rewarding way that supports the growth of your students.
The web site that I checked out for this blog had a simple list of ten things to remember when integrating technology into the classroom. The list was very informative and kept simple. The creator of the web site definitely wanted the reader to enjoy the reading and not feel over burdened by lengthy paragraphs. This web site was a great place that gives the reader ideas on how to start using computers properly in school and the classroom.

Here is the link to visit and check out the web site:
http://pigseye.kennesaw.edu/~snoviell/integrating.htm

Computers in Education

The article that I read had a simple thought that it wanted the reader to think about. Simply put the article takes a look at two schools one school has a laptop for each school and the other has one computer for every three students. The later of the two schools couldn't keep up with the cost of technology. The thought of the reader is to figure out if technology makes a difference in education.
I chose this article because it seemed like a good place to start this course at. As we are about to study technology and the uses of it in the classroom it is important to know that we as educators must take full advantage of the technology and make sure to get as much out of it as possible. Sure it is possible to teach the curriculum with out computers and technology. But having it can make all the difference for some students and mean a passing grade and a better grasp of the concepts being taught, as opposed to failing and not understanding the materials. Technology needs to be seen not as a necessity of teaching the curriculum (books, lectures, and worksheets can do that), but a necessity of teaching to all children and giving every child the best opportunity to succeed.

Topic of Study

My topic of study is the use of technology in the educational field. I'm currently taking my last two classes to complete my Master's Degree. Technology is something that I really enjoy and strongly believe in. Education, in my belief, needs to get as much technology into as possible. technology can only help students learn and participate in ways that regular textbook teaching can not. Throughout my semesters, while completing my masters, I have read and learned many ideas in which I have incorporated into my classroom and in doing so I have inspire the students and help some, if not all, understand the subject matter better.