Lesson 7 in Review

This weeks focus was on the brain, educational technology and Web 2.0 tools. I will begin by discussing the technology explorations, followed by the Brain Module, and then the Web 2.0 tools and educational technology that I plan to use in my classroom.


Technology Exploration 19:
Delicious, History Pin, Diigo, Calculator, and A Talking Calculator.
Delicious is a place where you can collect items from across the web.  This site reminds me of the site Pinterest, which has become very popular over that last couple of years.  Delicious was designed to help users create "Stacks" which are organized with links, pictures, videos, etc. of related materials. I liked the site, but I already am a member of Pinterest and really like it.  I would recommend it to other educators though.
History Pin is a way for people to share glimpses of the past and build up on the story of human history. I found the site interesting and would recommend it to other educators. I could see it being used to research a child's state or county history.
Diigo is a transition from Delicious.  There are similarities and differences and it's also very similar to Pinterest. It is similar to a cloud-based personal information management service which allows users to collect information from a variety of devices, websites, etc. I still prefer Pinterest, but it is still a good resource, and educators can make their own judgement on this resource.
The Calculator from PBS Kids is a good resource for students when calculator use is allowed. I do not like my students to rely on calculators, and use is very limited, as they need to learn the processes to work math problems out on their own and not rely solely on this resource. It is good, but again I would limit students use of this resource.
The Talking Calculator sounds like it would be a great resource, but I found it to be a nuisance, as I felt I had to jump through many links to try to download the resource and still didn't accomplish this goal.  I found it to be rather annoying and complicated to download something that should be easy.  There were multiple advertisements you have to go through to get to the product you are actually trying to download. This is a resource I wouldn't recommend to other educators and if I did would warn them of all the problems I faced.

Technology Exploration 20:
Math Wiki and PicLits. These two resources were explored in Technology Exploration 20.  The Math Wiki was designed to help teachers gain an understanding of Writing Across the Curriculum with Math.  I found it to be very informational and provided several examples of how writing can be used in Math. I would recommend this resource to other educators.
PicLits is interesting.  It is a site designed to create creative writing through graphics. I could see this being used for a writing or art class, where students can create their own story using a picture.  


The Brain Module was very interesting and I really enjoyed looking at the site: http://www.dana.org/. The site was very informational and provides educators with multiple resources about the brain, how it works, and about different disabilities that relate to the brains functions.  I really liked the resource that was about the arts in schools and how it relates to students learning.  I was a musician throughout middle school, high school and even through college, and still play the clarinet to this day.  I enjoyed music, and overall it helped with my understanding of repetition and how that is important in learning.

Web 2.0 tools and Educational Technology resources are also valuable resources in reaching our students and educating them.  Some examples of technology that I have seen used with my special needs students this past year include: Phonemic Awareness- a computer program that quizzes students on their reading comprehension, awareness of letter sounds, rhyming, etc. It was very useful as it let our teacher and the rest of us (assistants) see what the students had learned. We also used websites such as http://storylineonline.net, http://mothergooseclub.com, and http://pbskids.org to help with our students learning.  Storyline and Mother Goose Club were both sites where students could choose a story or nursery rhyme to listen to. This allowed students to follow along with the text of the story and learn the correct pronunciations of words. PBS Kids provided students with educational games, such as math, where it tested students knowledge of the topic that had just been covered. One example is measurement. Students used a game on measurement from this site to reinforce what they had learned in class that day or week.  They enjoyed it and it covered the material they had just learned. It made learning more enjoyable for them.
Our school also used Accelerated Reader, which tested students comprehension of books they read independently or had read to them.  This was used to see and track students progress with their reading.
One Web 2.0 tool I could see myself using in the future is Edmodo. This could be a very useful tool in communicating with parents and students. I also like the virtual manipulatives website, and the math dictionary websites we were provided with in class.  These are all helpful links that can be used and be beneficial to students learning.


Hope you enjoyed this weeks blog review.  Please leave any feedback or comments.