Monday, May 2, 2011

Anti-Bullying Videos: Bullied to Death


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Friday, March 13, 2009

Tresure Hunts

I had never heard of Internet treasure hunts before this semester, but now I'm hooked! I want to create a treasure hunt for every lesson! Of course that would not be a good use of technology since so many other resources are available, but I think you can see my fondness for this technology in particular. Similar to a real treasure hunt, students are given clues in the form of websites which they visit in order to answer a list of questions. At the end of the "hunting" part of the lesson, the students attempt to synthesize the information they learned and answer another question by applying their knowledge to a new situation.

Treasure hunts are extremely useful in the classroom because teachers can easily create these assignments, and everything is provided for the students. Students know what information to look for, and the links for any necessary websites are provided for them. Although teachers must still monitor the room to make sure students are on task and are not visiting irrelevant/unreliable sites, the opportunities for students to get off task is greatly reduced. For a great example of a treasure hunt, click here.

Treasure hunts also provide a great opportunity for students to utilize the Internet and find current information. It helps teachers move beyond the textbook and make learning more exciting for students. Although these do take a bit of prior planning (creating the website, finding appropriate links, ensuring that all links are currently active), I believe that they are worth the effort.

For more information on how to plan an Internet Scavenger Hunt, check out the following website:
How to Plan an Internet Scavenger Hunt
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Technology Dilemma


I have really enjoyed learning about the different technologies that we can utilize in the classroom. I am currently student teaching in a school where the resources are very limited. There are only 2 computer labs in a school of 900 students. The only computer in the classroom is the teacher's laptop. Is anyone else dealing with this issue? If so, how to you overcome the lack of resources to still be able to use technology in the classroom in a way that benefits the students?
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Technology in the Classroom


Technology can be used in the classroom in a variet of ways. One thing that we can do with technology is use it as a communication tool. You can easily create a classroom website which allows you to communicate important information to parents. You may want to include things such as a calendar, important announcements, homework assignments, and project deadlines. This also gives students an additional resource in case they missed something in class. You may want to consider including websites that enhance the content, notes or handouts from class, and a forum for communication between the teacher and other students.

One of the most important things to remember when using technology in your lessons is that the technology used must support the goals of the lesson. It can not be used as a second thought just for the sake of "incorporating technology. Oftentimes when we think of technology, the Internet is the only thing that comes to mind. At least that used to be the case for me. I could not get beyond that, and I did not know how to utilize the Internet in a way that really benefits students. We are lucky to be educators today because we have so many options available to us. You can easily create a blog. Blogs serve as a great forum to keep a record of classroom activities and reflect on your lessons, or you may use them to exhibit student work, give assignments, or communicate with parents. You can also create Internet-based lesson plans, such as treasure hunts or webquests. In another blog posting I have talked about treasure hunts in more detail. If you are lucky enough to have one in your classroom, Promethean boards are also a wonderful tool. Check out some of these videos to see how teachers are using these in their classrooms. Inspiration Software is great for organizing thoughts and creating concept maps. You can download a free trial of this software so you can see how great it is!

Some other technologies that you may want to consider using are cell phones, iPods and Podcasts, and iTunes. Check out the video below to see more ideas of ways to incoporate technology into your classroom.
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