Pre-Lecture 2/09/02

In this pre-lecuture podcast we discussed many things. First we reviewed what we have done so far. Basically what we have covered has been there to convince us that techonology is imortant and we should take advantage of it when we are teachers. Also that we need to change the way we teach to better fit these new type of learners.

Then we began talking about how to actually use techonology. The first way was for assesment. Using it for assesment mean checking for learning and also what is missing to make things better. Examples comoon assesment techniques are test, quizes, projets, journals, presentations and simply asking questions. The podcast gave us three ways that we can use technology. The first was Easy Test Maker which is there to help with efficiency. This is a website that you can use as a resource to make quick and easy tests. The next example was Quia, which helps with effectiveness. On this website you can search through mutliple subject to find activites, quizes and fun games to help your teaching process. Finally to enhance your students learning you can use Wrtie to Learn. This is a website that can give students immediate feedback to thier writing and reading comprehesion skills. This is a tool that allows us to do something that we never could have without technology.

The next way we learned to us technology is for administrative tasks. These tasks are the annoying, but important stuff that the teachers have to do when they are not teaching. For example planning, tracking and deciding on things. To help plan the podcast offerend a website called Curriki. This is a place to learn about new lesson plans, to share lesson plans and to get an overview of how other teachers are teaching thier subjects. It becomes a way to get new ideas quickly and efficiently. Next they showed us PDA software to help tracking and managing. These are like handheld computers that can track attendance, students schedules and give emergency updates. Many business men and doctors use them and some schools are starting to incorporate them.

The final thing we talked about was classroom managment. Having all this technology is a great things but it come with a great risk. As a teacher you have to deal with some techonolgies not functioning. You have to handle the problems and offer new solutions. Also technology may be a way of distracting the kids, but it also could keep them more focused becuase they are enjoying what they are doing. You, as a techer, have to find that medium where you use technology to help keep them focused instead of distracting them.