Visualizing with Technology

I think using visual technology in the classroom is a great idea.  It is a way to make the things you are trying to teach stick with the student longer because they can actually see the lesson, as opposed to just trying to follow along with what is being said.  This is also a good idea because so many people have different learning styles, having a visual aid is very helpful in regards to this.  I think a really good example of why visualizing with technology is a good idea was found in the chapter we were to read for this lesson.  There was a picture of a visual aid used in a microbiology class, and it reminded me of my transition from high to college classes, where technology was implemented more.  I have always struggled with biology.  I am  a very visual learner and for years at my high school, I had all the complicated terms thrown at me and I could never fully grasp what I needed to know.  Then, my college biology teacher implemented technology with visual aids, and it really changed my understanding of biology.  I could see this picture of a cell and using his computer, he could show us different parts of the cell, and different terms were shown what a time in relationship to where the were located on the cell, and I was finally able to SEE it.  It became more than just a mash up of complicated terms.

Visualizing with technology has had a major impact on the learning process.  You can use it tom improve lessons in every subject that can be taught.  There are many different types of technology that can function as visual aids to improve the learning process. As I mentioned above, in a biology classroom setting, i twas helpful to me to see projected images of the subject I was trying to label, and it helped me to understand the concepts.  Another example of using different types of technology in the learning process, that in my opinion has majorly impacted the learning process, is the use of excel sheets in math.  By using excel sheets, we can apply mathematical principles to real life scenarios, and see how they affect things.  Google Earth is an example of visualizing with technology.  Thanks to it, we can see parts of the world we might have never fully understood before.  Technology in the classroom is such a useful tool, and when you think about all the visual aids than can assist us in the learning process thanks to technology, you can really appreciate how lucky we are to live in such a technologically advanced time.

Podcasting

The lesson for this week was about podcasting.  I can honestly say I knew nothing about the term.  I learned that podcasting is creating an audio file that you can listen to on different devices, such as ipods, mp3 players, and even cell phones.  The files are meant to be used on portable devices, which is why it is called podcasting.  To be honest, I have never really considered podcasting for classroom use.  When I weigh the pros and cons, I think I would consider podcasting a good education tool.  I think it is useful in the event that a student has to miss a class.  IF a student is in an online class it sometimes helps to hear the teacher explain something, rather than trying to read and comprehend something that they don't understand.  I know first hand this can be frustrating because if you do not understand the material all the words will just blur together and you do not learn anything.  So, I think that in those situations podcasting would be very useful in a class and could help to improve overall grade point average.

I think that podcasting differs quiet a bit from other web 2.0 tools.  Other types of web 2.0 tools would be wikis, social bookmarking, and voice thread.  I think one of the biggest differences is level of interaction.  For all the other tools there is much bigger level of interaction for students.  For wikis they can even go so far as to update information themselves.  They have a bigger voice with the others. Even if they can't alter something or ask questions, I would think the learning experience would be better with other tools, simply because you're providing more information.  If you use a voice thread, they can not only hear your lecture, but they can see diagrams or pictures or whatever you need to enhance the learning experience.

I actually do not own an ipod or an mp3 player.  I do have a cell phone that I am able to stream media on, but to be honest I do not use it much.  I liked learning about podcasting in this lesson because it is not something I would have normally considered as a tool for education.  I think that I would definitely use podcasting in my classroom.  As I mentioned above, I think it is particularly useful in the even that someone misses a class, or takes an online course.  I also think that the biggest reason I think I would be interested in using podcasting in my classroom is because all students learn at different speeds.  I think there would be a major advantage to have an audio file they can review on their own time before completing homework.  I think that there are both advantages and disadvantages to online communication tools.  While I understand that they are useful in the classroom setting, I think that we run into the danger of a teacher being obsolete. Students may learn to rely more on technology than on face to face communication with a teacher.

Web 2.0

 Web 2.0 is all about collaboration and interaction.  A web 2.0 site allows people to interact with each other and get together to change the content listed on a website.  Examples of web 2.0 are blogs, wikis, video sharing, bacebook, twitter, or any other social networking site. When you think about a web 2.0 site, it means you are thinking about a webpage that is more than just going to a screen and staring at the information.  I think that in most cases these websites are websites where you have a username and password and you can contribute to a site.  An example of this would be commenting on a blog posting, or something like a wiki – which would be mean you get to contribute to the information other people are seeing!

I think that Web 2.0 tools are very beneficial to today’s educational systems.  I know that I personally would want to utilize them in my classroom.  Students can use blogs, wikis, voice threads, and social bookmarking, just to name a few.  I think that voice threads are very important, because it is a way for teachers to continue to teach students when they can’t physical be in front of them.  In one of my favorite classes this semester, my teacher uses voice threads to teach lessons.  He has still pictures and he explains what is going in each picture, or slide, and hearing him speak is very beneficial in the learning process.  Another great tool that think is positive for education are wikis.  By allowing people to be able to collaborate with their classmates, or others, we are encouraging learning.  I do not think there are any negative impacts.