Virtual Reality?

Is virtual reality right for my classroom?  Or other K-12 classrooms?  I would say it depends on how it is used.  I definitely do not see virtual world type programs as tools in the classroom.  It should be the goal of all educators to use technology to enhance what they are teaching, not simply add extrataneous bells and whistles.  I see using sites like Second Life as those bells.  I have seen some pretty cool projects completed through this site but I don’t see how all the time that is used for teachers to prepare the assignment and then the students learn how to use the virtual world site as time productively spent.  I see it more as the teacher teaching the site and not the curriculum.  This is the complete opposite of the goal of technology enhancing the curriculum and not taking away from it.  I do worry that virtual reality in regards to sites like Second Life may not be safe.  It is simply is too easy for people to be deceitful online. I guess I am just not very trusting in these situations.  I do learn more toward VR being a fad, but I think most things online end up as fads.  I don’t even know if I really think VR is really the ‘in’ thing right now.  I remember Second life being popular a couple years ago but haven’t heard anything about it until taking this class.

I do think that virtual reality has its place in the classroom in other ways.  One example of this is virtual dissections for science classes.  While I don’t think these will ever take the place of real dissections they can be a great alternative when cost is an issue or as an introduction to a dissection unit.  Another great use of VR is virtual field trips.  I can’t take my 5^th graders to Colonial Williamsburg, but my laptop can!    

Blog Entry #4- CIP

                            I am going to create a Webquest for my CIP.  I basically choose to do a Webquest because it is forcing me into learning how to create one.  I’ve created many units and lesson plans and have integrated using technology in them many times but I have never attempted anything like creating a Webquest and I really want to push myself in trying new things.  I am currently having my students use a Webquest I found online to wrap up our science unit and to see if Webquest work with my students.  They are really enjoying it so far and I am learning how much time they need to complete tasks and how much time they waste playing around on the website links they follow.  The Webquest I am working on is a ‘Case Study of Columbus’.  The kids will use both online and book resources to learn about Columbus and the impact he had on exploration.  I have a true or false quiz with my lesson stuff that is great for before and after Columbus lessons that I would love to turn into an online quiz through my online grade book program Engrade.  Engrade includes a bunch of cool tools like quizzes and flashcards that I see and think I try out but I never make time for them.  I am hoping that through this project I will try some of these things out and see that they are not so scary and I should just use them. 

                            I have the majority of the resources for my kids to use through the Webquest figured out.  There are several nice websites with kid friendly information on Columbus that I used in my Resource Summary.  There are also a couple books in my classroom I want them to use as well.  What I need to do it figure out the online quiz for before and after and a fun idea for my introduction.  The Webquest my kids are doing right now has them acting as TV reporters and they have to make a newscast.  I’m kind of thinking about a super sleuth theme for this one.  Make them detectives. 

                            One of the things I worry about most with this class is that I will not use all the things I have learned.  I can’t believe all the great tools I have learned about in this class.  I don’t want to fall back into old habits of teaching and not use any of the technology have learned how to integrate into my teaching.  I have already tried some things out as I have learned them and seen what works and what doesn’t and I am hoping that this project will reinforce this habit.  I am trying to integrate several of the things I have learned into my Webquest.  I was important to me when starting planning this project to create it on a topic I am teaching this year.  That is why I choose Columbus.  I should be teaching Columbus lesson at the end of the unit I am teaching in Social studies right now.  I am really working on updating my teaching practices to include a better integration of technology that enhances my teaching and lessons and isn’t just adding bells and whistles.           

Webquest strengths and weaknesses

Questgarden.com/118/11/9/110201080330/t-index.htm

This is a very nice website that incorporates researching food webs and ecosystems with collaboration and creativity.

Introduction:

            This area is well written and is easy for students to understand, however it is not visually appealing.  It doesn’t grab a students attention enough o get them interested to read it.

Task:

            This page very clearly states what information the students need to gather.  It incorporates some information they should already know and some they need to look up.  I think it could explain the details of how a newscast should look. Should they make props or visual aids?

Process:

            I really like hoe the author created this section.  Very clear instructions. Varied links, some are for information gathering and some are for organizing that info.  It also includes a worksheet so the students can make sure they have all the information they need. One downside is that one of the links leads to a cool website that is unfortunately not free.

Evaluation:

            This is a great rubric for the collaboration and newscast part of the project.  It doesn’t include how the students are scored on the content of the project.

Conclusion:

            This wraps up the newscast part of the quest nicely, touching on scripts, rehearsing and readiness for film.   Doesn’t provide any sort of conclusion in regards to the science ecosystem content area of the webquest.

I will be able to use the majority of this quest without modification.  Some of the wording that is specific to the author’s own classroom needs to be adjusted.  For instance I won’t be putting the recorded newscast on my non existing class website.  I will also have to remove the link to the website my class does not have access to.  I will also add to the evaluation section to add a rubric for the science content of the quest.  I will also do this for the conclusion section. 

Educational Technology Guy: Experiments and Exploration are vital to science education!

Educational Technology Guy: Experiments and Exploration are vital to science education!

Technology standards in my teaching

3-5.DC.1. discuss scenarios involving acceptable and unacceptable uses of technology (e.g., file-sharing, social networking, text messaging, cyber bullying, plagiarism)
This is a standard I recently covered with an ELA lesson in my 5th/6th grade classroom.  The lesson began with my students reading a debate in a recent issue of Time For Kids.  This debate was over the issue of children using Facebook.  Our discussion after reading the debate was much more intense than I originally planned.  I usually love when TFK include debates in their issues because it is something my students need to learn and we tend to have great discussions as a result of the articles.   This case was no different.  Every single one of my students had a strong opinion regarding the topic of underage children using facebook or other  social networking sites.  It was pretty equal with half the kids saying they should be able to use Facebook and the other half agreeing they were too young.  Several of my students either have their own accounts or use their parents' accounts.  They we able to show how their parents restrict and control thier internet use.  We had a pretty broad discussion on this topic.  We covered issues such as internet safety and cyber bullying.  Our lively discussion was followed up with each student writing a journal entry  detailing their opinion on the debate.
I do not see this lesson as fully covering this standard. I see it as a good start and I know I have my students thinking about good uses of technology.   I plan to delve into this topic more when we begin researching topics online.      

blog comment #2

Here is the link to he comment I posted on Ron Houtman's blog.
http://www.ronhoutman.com/technology-in-the-classroom-thoughts-on-the-2011-cdw-g-classroom-report/#comment-107

comment on Rocky Roer's Blog

Here is the link to my comment on Rocky's blog about 'flipping' his physics class.  I am very interested in how he is integrating technology into his teaching.
http://rockyroer.blogspot.com/2011/09/first-week-of-flipping.html?showComment=1316902857516#c2369766743938391634

The technology I use at home is pretty basic.  I have my cell phone for texting and calling, there is nothing 'smart' about it.  I enjoy using my Kindle 3G more than I thought I would and I would like to figure out how to send pdf's to it so I can read school stuff on it rather that online or printing it.  My laptop's battery no longer holds a charge so it stays plugged in at school most of the time.  At home we have a very slow desktop computer that is connected to dial up internet so I only use it if I really need to.  I do most of my school work from my classroom or on my fiance's laptop and good internet.  I do also have a digital camera and an ipod nano.  My nano is used mostly at school.
My classroom has two computers, a Mac and a PC.  As I mentioned before I also keep my Laptop at school.  A big reason I do this is because my classroom PC, on which I did most of my schoolwork, made a weird noise and died last school year and I've been without since.  I'm not a fan of the Mac but my student's use it to take AR quizzes.  We also have a computer lab of about 15 PC.  Since we have such small class sizes the amount of computers in the lab isn't an issue.  Our school has two data projectors with netbooks to share between the four teachers.  Each room also has the basic overhead projector.  We also all have TVs with vhs/dvd players in each room.  I have my iPod dock in my classroom and play music form my iPod for the kids frequently.  I now use an online grade book.  We also have a subscription to Discovery Education this year.  I'm pretty sure that sums it up.
Our administrator values the use of technology in the classroom but I wouldn't say she pushes for it in any particular way.  In a way it is a couple of the teachers who push for it the most.  She does listen to our wants ans concerns and does what she can to get it for us.  I wasn't even aware of our technology plan until I asked if we had one so I could use it for this class.  As a parent run school our school board is primarily made up of parents.  I know that they do want the best for their children and would probably like us to integrate as much technology as we can for as little cost as we can.
As far as my students go, they love using technology!  Most of them have better iPods than I do.  I mentioned this week that we would be creating power points in science soon and they are very excited.  I introduced Google Docs to my sixth graders last year and they can't wait to use them again.  They love it any time I use the data projector.  I'm also having them work on their typing skills this year as well the traditional handwriting and they can't wait to start.
What I think would impact my teaching is if I had a projector set up in my classroom permanently.  I know I would use it so much more than I do now if I didn't have to worry about if another teacher needed it or about the time it takes to set it all up and tear it all down each time I use it.
What I really  hope to get out of this class and the others I take in my master's program is how to effectively integrate technology into my everyday teaching.  I want to know what tools are out there that I don't know about.  How do I use them and how do I effectively use the ones I do know about.  I want to be a 21st century teacher to effectively instruct my 21st century students.

Very first blog post ever.

Hello all!
Here is my very first blog post ever!  I never gave much thought to writing a blog before now.  Good luck to me...