"the teacher needs to be able to move around the Internet. This movement is accomplished by using a browser, e.g. Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer™, or some other browser. Using the browser, a teacher accesses any other computer or computer server that is available online. These computers are operated by businesses, governmental entities, educational units, public and private organizations and, even, individuals. There are numerous resources, such as Ackermann & Hartman,3 that are available which provide information about the issues of equipment, access, browsers, and computer servers."
The text also explains how teachers can find great and reliable sources. Teachers can check if something is a reliable source by looking at who published the website. The text defines the term "reliability" as "the degree of consistency that the instrument or procedure demonstrates." The text also explains that educational websites normally run by colleges are reliable, as well as any website ending in .gov or .edu. Websites for businesses that have been around a long time are also reliable, but the same can not be said for small businesses because they may be popular one minute and unpopular the next. Also, before judging if something is reliable, you should first determine if something is valid. The textbook defines "Validity" as "that quality of a data-gathering instrument or procedure that enables it to measure what it is supposed to measure."
The text also explains various questions you can ask yourself when determining if a website is valid or reliable. The text states that these questions are:
- Who is the author or institution?
- How current is the information?
- Who is the audience?
- Is the content accurate and objective?
- What is the purpose of the information?
The text also explains how a teacher can use search engines to help find information for her classroom and use libraries with online websites to search for information or books that would be useful in a classroom instead of actually going to the library, which saves a lot of time. News is also more readily available now online than it is on paper. When someone wants to look at a piece of recent news, it is just a button away. The text also explains the most beneficial social studies websites teachers use when looking up information about their teaching.
The text also explains how to integrate technology into a classroom—the text first talks about hardware. I believe one essential piece of hardware in a classroom is a smartboard and different variations of it. Smartboards are interactive and get students actively involved in the lesson. Smartboards also have many lessons which have already been created that a teacher can use to help her students learn about whatever topic she is teaching. Using a smartboard with interactive materials built-in also means that the teacher spends less time searching for interactive activities and can spend more time helping her students learn. Teachers can also use iPads in the classroom to help their students learn. The text states, "iPads help to foster communication, cooperation, and critical thinking."
Teachers can also use a variety of software to help their students learn. Some examples of this software include The Khan Academy, Wordle, and Epal. The Khan Academy is an online website students can use if they don't understand a class topic. The Khan Academy provides:
- Extra lessons.
- Step-by-step instruction.
- Extra examples of problems that students can do to help them understand a topic.
Wordle is a website where students can generate a poster about words they find important. The text states, "Wordle is a toy for generating "word clouds" from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text." Epal is a digital pen pal website that students can use to talk to peers of the same age bracket worldwide.
There are also various ways teachers can use technology in a unit plan. The text states "These multi-media approaches to thematic units are similar. There is a television broadcast, videotapes, and usually, a book, teaching guides, and ancillary materials. Social studies teachers have students watch the television presentations or show film/videotape versions of the programs. There usually is a classroom set of the books for students to read or check out. The teacher uses the instructor's guide to develop a three to four week teaching unit. Some form of an inquiry/research project is part of the unit."
I have learned many things from this chapter. Things such as integrating technology into a unit plan and how a teacher can use search engines and online library resources. I have also learned about beneficial software and hardware a teacher can use in her classroom to help her students learn. I have also learned the difference between reliable and valid resources and how to identify them.
No comments:
Post a Comment