Ch. 9 Creating and Sharing Information with Multimedia Technologies

Focus Question: What is multimedia technology and how can teachers use it to effectively create and share visual information dynamically in their teaching?
 Multimedia learning is caused when a variety of media like texting, data, voice, picture, and video) are used to communicate information. From these media, schools emphasize the most on  single media, noninteractive modes of learning. A multimedia classroom uses this media for teaching and learning.

Tech Tool Link: Audacity (Audio Recording Software)

 

This is such a great website for teachers to edit their voice recordings and eliminate and unwanted or distracting material. This website can also be used for the editing of recordings that can be used for professional and/or teaching purposes.

 

Summary and Conclusion: The use of multimedia technology for teaching and learning purposes is probably one of the most effective ways to capture the student's attention towards the topic being taught. I believe that teachers should receive a training on how to use multimedia; and therefore, making teaching an easier job for teachers by joining in with the students' relative media.

Ch.8 Communicating and Networking with Websites, Blogs, Wikis, and More

Focus Question: How can teachers use a website or blog to improve teaching and learning?
There are three basic types of education-related blogs: 1) "official face" blogs, single-purpose blogs, and 3) active learning blogs. Teachers have three options for creating their own website or blog: 1) a do-it-yourself option, 2) a commercially available option, or 3) a open source option.

Tech Tool Link: Go Daddy

This website gives you the options for building the website yourself or it can build it for you. If building it yourself, it gives you hundreds of different templates to drag and drop, it also includes a web host and n e-mail, and it gives you different online communication widgets. It also provides the website with website servers to improve the quality performance.

Summary and Conclusion: This chapter goes further than a teacher just simply sharing his or her ideas verbally and linguistically. It concentrates on the use of websites and blogs to share information and ideas in between students and teachers. This is probably the most effective way for students to learn, and be able to share their ideas in the form of the era we are living in, through computers.

Ch. 7 Problem Solving and Inquiry Learning with Software and Web Tools

Focus Question: How can teachers use computer games and simulations as learning resources?
Since today's students love to play computer a dvideo games, researchers envision exciting possibilities for learning when students use the intellectual skills needed in effective game playing for educational purposes.

Tech Tool Link: Scratch

 

 

This toolkit gives the opportunity for any student from any grade level to develop their learning skills by creating their own games, animated stories, and interactive art. This makes a turn-around in the way teachers teach their students by letting their students take initiative to learn the subject.

 

 

Summary and Conclusion: Having the capacity to solve certain study problems online and to learn a subject by following a step by step guidance through software makes a complete relation with the students, causing for the lessons to cause an effect in their lives.

Ch.6 Teaching with Educational Websites and Other Online Resources

Focus Question: What are WebQuests and virtual field trips?
They are innovative and engaging Web teaching methods that can be used for all ages. WebQuests are virtual pathways where students select a group of preselected websitesin order to explore some educational topics by accessing online visual information. Virtual field trips allows the faculty and students of the school to visit places around the world with a academis purpose.

Tech Tool Link: The Cave of Chauvet-Pont-D'Arc

This website allows you to experience an online virtual field trip like if you were literally walking in it. It gives you the privilege to take a tour through this subterranean world and link on the different facts and pictures from the entire cave system. I believe this can bring lots of interest to the students, allowing them to experience the beauty of any place through tehir favorite thing to do, and it is surfing the web.

Summary and Conclusion: There are certain curriculums and policies that teachers need to follow in a state in order to prepare and teach their lessons to students. By managing their information online, teachers can apply the proper curriculum and be able to engage the students in their teaching. This information is being managed through educational websites, in which in this chapter they are examined with the purpose of always providing the students with the proper education.

Ch.5- Researching and Evaluating Internet Information

Focus Question: How can teachers and students thoughtfully evaluate online information resources, including the online encyclopedia Wikipedia?
The web has different types of information problems, including Wikipedia which is used for evaluating the quality of information on the web. High quality information meets the five criteria: accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage. This criteria involves paying attention to URL extensions, discussing cognitive load, using lesson plans site selectivity, and giving clear Web research guidelines.

Tech Tool Link:  Building a Pipe on Yahoo

To build a pipe is free and you can combine different feed types and create data machups. You can also use the website to publish and run your own online projects and your web services.

Summary and Conclusion: In this chapter, Students and teachers learn how evaluate the online information in-depth in order to make it a safe and trustworthy environment for research. Moreover, it features a new lesson plan where new strategies are used for teaching any online information to students who need to be informed about the latest societal problems. I consider this chapter a key one for learning how to manage what you browse on the web.

Chapter 4 Integrating Technology and Creating Change

Focus Question: What are "digital inequality" and the "participation gap?"

"Digital inequality" explains how the student's lack of access to technology resources is connected to their socioeconomic standing in society. "Participation gap" means that the low-income and the lower class of students have not had the same chances as as their more wealthy peers to use the newest technologies for learning.

Tech Tool Link:
NCTE Testimonials

Through the NCTE Inbox Blog, the teacher leaves her independent world of a classroom into a community of teachers wanting to make a difference in today's students. They could talk to friends, neighbors, colleagues,and family about what's happening in your classroom, tell Stories to illustrate the complex and rewarding work you do, and put names and faces on your students as you talk about their excitement for learning.

Summary and Conclusion: Through this chapter, I learned about the variety of ways that technology can be used when it is hands-on-work time in a classroom as an educator. Even for those teachers who have a so-called "participation gap," it showed me the different ways that a teacher can achieve with technology without having the newest stuff.

Ch. 3 Developing Lessons with Technology

Focus Question: How can teachers evaluate and assess their students?
Technology offers multiple ways to conduct test and performance assessments, both as part of traditional measures such as tests and quizzes and in supporting performance measures such as portfolios, exhibitions, and student writing.

Tech Tool Link: www.4teachers.org
After accessing the Quizstar online, it provides the teachers with the ability to manage classes and quizzes, attach multimedia files to questions, make quizzes in multiple languages, access from any Internet-connected computer, allow students to complete and review.

Summary and Conclusion: This chapter shows me how technology provides teachers with the ability to convert their lesson plans, assessments and quizzes into an online resource, and therefore, cause even a greater effect in a student's life. I conclude by saying that there is a need for professors to even assess their teaching plans electronically to not only teach a student, but also be able to make a difference in their lives.