Chapter 3

There are ten principles that are discussed in chapter 3.  I will discuss the three that I feel are most important for educational use.  First, the Active, Critical Learning Principle can be used in all aspects of learning.  It allows the student to be actively engaged and encourages critical learning, not passive learning.  The student needs to feel that the lesson is interesting or he/she will not give it their best effort. Second, the Identity Principle lets the student take on the identity (interactively) of a character, and lets them make choices that will affect the outcome.  There is an interactive program online called IMVU which allows a person to make a character the way they want it to look from many templates, and allows them to chat with others.  This is a great way for students, especially those that are shy, to interact and converse about a topic freely.  Third, the Discovery Principle allows learner the opportunity to experiment and discover things in their own way.   This is a good way to let students learn about things that they may not otherwise have an interest in.

Simulations are very useful in learning.  If I were to create a simulation for a class I think I would make one for chemistry.  I would allow students to experiment by adding different elements from the periodic table together to see what they get.  I would also let them do things like heat the elements to see what kind of reaction it may have on experiment.  Interaction of this kind promotes a higher level thinking process and will allow them to truly understand the aspects of chemistry.

The use of interactive gaming can be a wonderful learning tool in the classroom if the designs of such programs are interesting and entertaining for the students.  If the principles mentioned in chapter 3 are used, it can greatly encourage students to be more active in their own learning process and peak interests they may not have known they had.    

Jonassen, D. Howland, J. Marra, R. M. Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning With Technology. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Merrill Prentice Hill.

Week 7

There are many different types of writing activities that can be done in a classroom using technology.  As I read through the chapter I saw that it talked about collaborating with others students that were at different work stations using Writely.  This program allows students to collaborate on written works, by allowing the importation of documents from many different formats, sharing documents and allow collaborators to give input via e-mail, lets revisions to be made among many other things.  This tool I believe is a great activity that allows a class to freely express themselves.

When making a PowerPoint  presentation the many focus should be on the content of the main idea or purpose for the PowerPoint, NOT the visual effects of the the presentation which can distract the intended audience.  Some things to remember that may prevent the audience from becoming distracted can be simple.  Choose a font and stick with it, make it easy to read.  Don’t use too many transitional effects, it could make them focus more on the slides rather than you.  Chose a template that complements your presentation, not contrasts with it.  And keep your presentation short and sweet, if it is too long then you have lost the audiences interest.  I think that avoiding these types of pitfalls now that they are know should make it easy.

The use of different types of technology in a classroom in today's schools is becoming a necessity.  Making the lessons interactive and interesting to the students is the key to their success.  Using programs such as Writely and PowerPoint can help to facilitate this interaction but these programs and the students using them may need to be monitored to ensure they are being used to their potential.

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R.M., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning With Technology. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Week 6 Blog Posting

Personal digital assistants (PDAs) are hand held devices that can be used to simplify work, transmit data, and keep track of tasks with checklists and calendars.  The use of these types of devices in a classroom, according to chapter 2 in the textbook, can be a very effective tool of instruction and a positively impact student motivation.  There are many things a PDA can do that can enhance the learning of a student while making the lesson easier to understand and accomplish.  I believe the most efficient use of a PDA for a classroom setting would be in a mathematics, with teaching graphs,  or computer class with teaching how to use excel spreadsheets.  Information can be easily transmitted from 1 PDA to another by use of beaming, or syncing with a computer.  I personally have one of the Palm Tungsten E2’s and have found that I have trouble with using it for anything other than keeping a schedule of appointments, a checklist for assignment due dates, and as an address book.  My children have used it and seem to have no problem with navigating the different programs it offers though.

We use online surveys to gather information on a topic, marketing, likes or dislikes about issues, and in the case of the classroom, gather information on what a student knows or doesn’t know about a topic, which can guide a teacher in the direction on where to start a lesson on a specific topic.  If a teacher knows what the students already know about a topic or issue the teacher can spend much less time on teaching a topic that they already know and spend more time in areas that the students are less comfortable with. 

Two good rules to go by when writing a survey, in my opinion, are:  keep the question short and to the point (avoid long questions), and avoid questions that lead a person to answer in a certain way (avoid leading question).

The use of technologies such as those mentioned in chapter 2 can be an asset to the learning environment if used in the proper manner.  There is a lot of room for students to misuse technologies, like PDAs, so strict rules with their use must be enforced.  If teachers can properly integrate such technologies into the learning environment then great things can be discovered by their students by promoting active, reflective, and complex learning with the use of technology.

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R.M., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning With Technology. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Week 4 Blog posting Excel

The use of spreadsheets is a very useful tool.  The idea of using spreadsheets in the classroom in order to promote higher level thinking is a great concept.  If a student can learn how to manipulate excel in order to compute the functions that they want, it can open doors in life beyond the relm of school. 


It is a great tool to be used within the classroom.  It can be used to monipulate numbers for grade postings, to teach a student to manage a budget, accounting, and much more.  It can be used in everyday life which makes this program very useful and from my viewpoint nessary on the educational standpoint.


The book mentioned three major functions storing, calculationg, and presenting information.  First, spreadsheet are programed to store information, usually numerical information. Second, and most important, spreadsheep support calculation functions, such as numerical contents of any combination within the cells. Third spreadsheet present the information using graphs and charts, as well as graphics.


If the cells of a spreadsheet are formated correctly than it can do much more that just calculate numbers.  It can be used as a filling system to ceep records of grades of a teachers students rather than keeping a gradebook.

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning With Technology. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Inspiration

The Inspiration software program was very interesting to me. I have used mapping in an English class to get ideas on what to write about, but did not know there was software to facilitate this process. I think this program would make it very easy to learn. I like the way it helps to create an outline while you are brainstorming. It seems to be very easy to use, at least. I think this program would be very helpful in organizing ideas for response and research papers.

The best kind of writing activities are those that stimulate the mind, cause one to brainstorm for ideas and put those ideas in a logical order.  Being able to utilize computers in the classroom that may have access to the internet can facilitate this effect.  Combining the accessibility with programs such as Microsoft Word can really get the students minds going.  If the students were allowed to submit their assignments via computer or a teacher drop box on a school website, it could make the grading of those papers, easier for the teachers.  This could assist with organizing both the students and the teacher’s time.  If the papers are placed in a discussion board then the class can review the ideas of other students and comment on their ideas as well.

The Inspiration program can be a helpful tool in all levels of education. Technology is something our schools need in the classroom.  This program could benefit everyone in schools at all ages and levels of education.

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M., Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful learning with technology (3^rd ed.). Columbus, Ohio:  Pearson.

http://www.inspiration.com/videos/Inspiration

week 2 Blog Assignment

What I think about using blogs?  Using Blogs in the class room is a wonderful idea.  Using Blogs promotes the use of technology for the students in and out of the classroom.
What and how do you think blogs would be useful for education?I think, after reading chapter 6, that blogging can be a great asset to the learning environment and experience for children of all ages and all grade levels in the class room.  The range of possibilities that Blogs can be used for is almost endless. 
The use of technology in the class room is by far not a waist of time.  It promotes the use of the human brain to hypothisize, test, colaberate, and comunicate with others to come to a conclussion on a topic.

I was very interested in the use of Wikis.  The use of them in the class room could promote research of a subject and publishing of combined works.  It is a cool concept.

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Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M., Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful learning with technology (3^rd ed.). Columbus, Ohio:  Pearson.

Introducing Army SSG (Retired) William Bowers

Hello everyone,
I am Bill Bowers, I am in my 3rd year here at Texas A&M-Commerce studying to be a Special Education Degree. I am a retired Army Staff Sergeant and I am looking forward to a career change, (tired of killing people for a living, just kidding). I am a bit of a jokester and I like to laugh.  Blogging is new to me but I am interested in learning new things.
Bill Bowers