Website Evaluation

The internet is a wonderful tool for teachers to utilize in their classrooms. There is so much information out there that a teacher would be doing themselves and their students a disservice if they did not try to incorporate it into their lessons and assignments. It can sometimes be difficult for a teacher to sift through all the sites out there to find some that are suitable for their students. Kathy Schrock's website on how to evaluate websites is a very good resource for teachers to use when trying to find sites that are pertinent and valid for use in a classroom.

Content is really the most important thing to look at when evaluating websites for use. It has to have pertinent, true information that will be useful for a student. Besides content some other things to look for in a website is ease of use, author bias, spelling and grammatical errors, ads/popups etc. An easy to navigate website is not essential (let's face it kids these days will be able to make their way around a site better than a lot of us) but it is always nice, especially if working with younger students. A teacher needs to ask whether or not a site seems to have a particular bias or agenda as well. Sites used for class should be more factual than opinion based so that the student can make their own opinion based on the info. Spelling/grammar is an easy way to tell how legitimate a site is, especially with the ease and quickness of using a spell checker (this doesn't apply as much if the author does not have a solid grasp of the English language, as long as the content is there!). Ads/popups are not only annoying but can be vulgar and many of them children should not see. Teachers need to be aware of what kind of ads/popups exist on a page before having their students explore it.

Kathy Schrock suggests that a great way to look at a website is to apply the five W's to it and see how it holds up. Who is the author of the site and are they an expert in that field? What does the author state as the purpose of the site (if they state any purpose at all)? When was the site created/last updated? Where has the information come from (reliable sources or opinion)? Why do I need this information and how can it benefit me?

Digital Nation

The video 'Digital Nation' was one of the better documentaries that I have seen in quite a while. One of the more eye opening segments was definitely the one about Korea and the amount of time children spend playing games. I never knew that it got as bad as that honestly. Its really not that surprising considering how easy it is to access over there. Hopefully the US can learn from Korea and educate our children that technology is great and can be helpful but too much of anything is bad, no exceptions.

The story of how implementing technology into that inner city school was very inspiring and showed how technology can have very positive impacts on everyone involved when utilized correctly. That story will hopefully reach other school administrators and they will be able to collaborate with this and other schools about how to implement technology into their schools and hopefully have the same outcome.

I thought that one of the more interesting points made in the special was that while many people argue that we were are losing a lot as technology becomes a larger part of our life, the same thing happened with almost every other breakthrough. We lost memory with the development of the written word, we lost face to face human contact with the phone, etc. Like they said in the video, with every leap forward there are always a few steps back. As long as the leap is bigger than what we lose then we will be fine. I think that more the technology the better. Yes people will become 'addicted' or use the technology for bad, but that can be said about nearly everything. People abusing technology is no worse than people abusing anything else, it all just depends on the scope of the abuse.

More

I can safely say that this has been one of the more influential education classes that i have taken thus far. The classes that I took in college were more about how to handle students or different protocols for different situations. We didn't have a class even close to like this where I went to school. I have enjoyed this class immensely especially for conveying to us that there are many different ways to engage our students, ways that they will actually enjoy and therefore learn better and faster from.

That said, what else could I want from this class? Basically just more of the same. I love coming to class and learning about new tools that I have never heard and what it could mean for a teacher and class. What I would love is more actual examples of how to utilize these tools and technologies in a lesson plan. I want to be able to not only include these tools but include them in a way that is both effective and efficient. I want the student to see the point of using this particular tool in this particular instance, and also how they can use it in future assignments.

Anything I want!!

Thinking back its actually pretty unreal the amount of tools and knowledge that we have been introduced to in this class. For me at least the vast majority of the topics we have talked about and the things we have been shown are all totally new. The best part is even after this class is over we have things like EdTechTalk, Classroom 2.0, etc. to tell us about any new pieces of technology that we could utilize in our lesson plans and in our personal lives.

My favorite tools thus far are the ones that the student can use to not only learn but to have fun while he or she is at it. Websites such as Quizlet and Illuminations are great examples. A student can use these either during class or in their own home (provided they have the appropriate technology there) to play educational games.

I look forward to learning different ways to integrate the technologies we are being introduced to into actual lesson plans. When I was in school (namely elementary and middle school, the grades I hope to one day teach) the most elaborate use of technology was using the overhead projector to do math problems so the whole class could see. We would watch the occasional movie but very rarely used a computer ourselves till high school, maybe late middle school. So I am interested to see how a teacher would use technology in a classroom of younger students.

TecnoFunHouse

In just four short weeks of class we've discussed many very useful and fun tools that can be easily integrated into our classrooms. One of my favorite that I haven't had much time to look through amazingly thoroughly has been Illuminations. It seems like a very easily navigable page for both teachers and students with sections for lesson plans, activities, as well as links to other educational resources. The site is geared towards students in grades kindergarten through high school with lessons and activities labeled as such. The site is (unfortunately) only for math but considering that math is one of the more difficult subjects to really engage students in it is great that this tool exists. The web links are also only for math related sites.

Here's a link! http://illuminations.nctm.org/

Equaccess to the Digiworld

In the classroom I believe that a teacher can provide equal access to the digital world to all students. Outside the classroom is another matter however, as some students do not have as much access to the internet as others, and some don't have any at all. There isn't much a teacher can do about a student's technological capabilities at home. Schools can do more than individual teachers to help students attain access to the internet and computers in general. They can keep the computer lab open after school and allow students to use it to do homework that may require a computer or just let them surf the web for a while. Some schools hand out laptops preloaded with many educational applications to all students that they can take home and do with what they want. Even if a student does not have internet access at home the laptop can have everything they need to do their assignments.

While handing out laptops to all students is a wonderful practice it is not possible for all schools to do so. It takes money. I don't know how much but probably a lot. That really is the crux of most educational problems: Money. With it comes technology and with technology comes vast opportunities for learning.

EdTechTalk

I went to the EdTechTalk site and listened to a webcast about video in the classroom, mainly its use in elementary schools. I was relatively surprised by the flow of the show. There was a lot of joking around and laughing but it was also very informative, the people just seemed to have a great time discussing their topic.

I chose the topic because I plan to one day be an elementary school teacher and also I always enjoyed watching videos and full feature movies in school. One thing that surprised me about the content of the show was that it was really more about the children actually making movies rather than the teacher just putting one in and the kids watching it. It really is a great motivator to see something that you created from the brainstorming process through the final editting and finishing touches. When children see what they can really do, and they think about all the work that they put into it, they have a sense of pride about what they accomplished. It is also something different and fun that will keep the kids engrossed in what they're doing. They are not only learning about the subject of their video but also the video making process and since most likely it will be a group project, they are learning collaborating and social skills.

http://edtechtalk.com/node/4566