Monday, December 7, 2009

Chapter 12

Technology in Social Studies Instruction:

Theme 1: Culture
Theme 2: Time, Continuity, and Change
Theme 3: People, Places, and Environments
Theme 4: Individual Development and Identity
Theme 5: Individuals, groups, and Institutions
Theme 6: Power, Authority, and Governance
Theme 7: Production, Distribution, and Consumption
Theme 8: Science, Technology, and Society
Theme 9: global Connections
Theme 10: Civic Ideal and Practices

Virtual Trips are visits students make to Internet sites to see places they could not go easily go to in real life or that can help them get more out of trips they are able to take. Visiting foreign locations gives students a richer more comprehensive perspective on the world around themand makes the world a living part of their classroom.

Adventure Learning is a hybrid distance education approach that provides students with opportunities to explore real-world issues through authentic learning experiences within collaborative learning environments.

Digital Storytelling - students use personal narrative to explore community-based history, politics, economics, and geography.

Internet sources give stdents and teachers up-to-date information they could not obtain easily from other sources.

Geospatial Technologies - allow individuals to view and examine the world through multiple layering of data within a spatial environment. Google Earth!

Chapter 9

Technology in English and Laguage Arts Instruction:



TPACK - the use of appropriate technology, in a particular content area, as part of a pedagogical strategy, within a given educational context, to develop students' knowledge of a particular topic or meet an educational objective or student need.

Accelerated Reader - computer-based tracking system, to increase the amount of reading that students do on their down time. Studies have shown it to be successful in motivating students to read.

Writing in Blogs - students can use these either as personal journals or as public discussion forums for trading opinions and interactions.

Electronic outlining and Concept Mapping, both help students to organize their thoughts.

Chapter 8

Web based lessons or projects - Interpersonal exchanges - students communicating via technology with other students or with teachers. Information collection and analysis - Using information collections that provide data and information on request. Problem solving - Student-oriented and cooperative problem-solving projects.

Locating and using information from Internet sources has become a key part of classroom learning. It is important that students have opportunities to learn how to use web resources efficiently and effectively. Possible activities include individual and cooperative research projects.

Displays of past and current student work - Websites can be used as web publications centers in which students show examples if their poems, stories, pictures, and multimedia products. www.kidsplus.com

You must assess the quality of web-based material.
  • Good structure and oragnization
  • Clear text or graphic links
  • Good visual design
  • Easy navigation


Web Page Development Sequence:
  1. Plan and storyboard
  2. Develop pages with text
  3. Insert images and media
  4. Insert links and frames
  5. Insert interactive elements
  6. Test in a browser
  7. Publish (upload) the site
  8. Gather evaluations comments, revise, and maintain the site

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Chapter 7

The Internet*



www - World Wide Web

Mosaic was the first web browser, introduced in 1993. Now, Firefow, Internet Explorer and Safari are used.

Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) - Internet addresses, HTTP:// - HyoerText ransfer Protocol...Last part domain designator which typically indicates the type of content one would find at the website. .gov, .net, .org



Adding a favorite or bookmark can help you visit your favorite sites in much less time.

*Online Organizer - Online Social bookmarking del.icio.us, allows you to access your bookmarks at any location by saving your websites online in one place.

Distance learning, leanring has escaped the physical boundaries of the classroom and the school, and students and teachers have become part of a virtual classroom they share with counterparts around the world.
- Research
- Online classroom materials
- web-based lessons - teachers use website resources to structure a curriculum lesson
- virtual courses and programs


Sunday, November 15, 2009

Chapter 6


  • Multimedia vs. Hypermedia

  • Multimedia - multiple media, the media can be still graphics and photographs, sound, motion video, animation, and/or text items combined in a product whose purpose is to communicate information in multiple ways.

  • Hypermedia - linked media, items of information whose meaning were connected but that were stored in different locations.

  • Current and future impact of Hypermedia on Education - Increased Motivation, Flexible learning modes, Development of creative and critical thinking skills, Improved writing and process skills

  • Ebooks are no longer copyrighted so they are cheap and sometimes free downloads for teachers and students.
  • Power point presentation grading rubric pg. 189
  • Video production can allow students to create videos that illustrate real-life examples of concepts they have learned or document conditions that they want to bring to life.
  • Video Lectures *** Teachers can capture video of themselves of other experts explaining key concepts. These videos can support and extend in-class discussions; they also come in handy if students miss the original presentation or want to review material in a visual way.
  • Web 2.0 - blogs can be used for students to keep essentially a journal of thoughts, ideas and descriptions, blog authors can upload images, videos, links, and other documents to support their content. Podcast, i really love the idea of these for students whom have missed the class and need to catch up. They can hear the same content presentation as everyone else.
  • Web 2.0 is freely available to anyone with an Internet connection which is cost effective for classroom use.

Chapter 5

Software Support Tools:
  1. Materials Generators - help teachers and students produce instructional materials
  2. Data collection and analysis tools - help teachers collect and organize information that indicates student progress
  3. Graphic tools - allow manipulation of images to illustrate documents and web pages
  4. Planning and organizing tools - help teachers and students conceptualize, organize, and communicate their ideas
  5. Research and reference tools - Lets students look up information in electronic versions of encyclopedias, atlases, and dictionaries
  6. Content-area tools - Support teaching and learning activities in various content areas

1. Material Generators include publishing software, test and rubric generators (among others)

Desktop publishing software allows users more control over the design and production of a document. Useful if you are teaching students how to design and lay out large, complex docs. such as a newspaper.

Test Generators help to create and enter questions, and then they have the program prepare the test. The software lays out the page format for all questions and changes can be eaily made and the format will adjust as necessary. Can also create different version of a test with questions being pulled from a bank to avod copying. The program will automatically provide an answer key. Free rubric generators are also available.

Worksheet and Puzzle generators, Electronic gradebooks program allows a teacher to enter student names, test/assignments names, data from tests, and weighting information for specific test scores. They require less set-up time but also have less flexibility on format.

Student Response Systems are a combination of handheld hardware and software that permits each student in a classroom to answer a question simultaneously and permits the teacher to see and display a summary of results immediately.

Scheduling and Time management tools - schedule makers help formulate plans for daily, weekly, or monthly sequences of appointments and events.

Electronic atlases and mapping tools are great educational tools for families and teahcers. Students can get info on a specific city or on a whole country. Worldatlas

Geographic Information System - is a computer system that ia able to store in a database a variety of information about geographic locations. 1) to record and maintain large amounts of geographic information 2) to produce up-to-date, customized maps 3) to allow analysis and comparison of information on different locations.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Web 2.0 Article

  • I really liked te idea of incorporating a podcast into my class instruction. I think the idea of recording your lesson that day and then posting it as a pdcast is beneficial for everyone.
  • The student will get a second or third chance to hear your lecture and a parent can also listen to the lesson that day.
  • I think test grades will improve based on a second chance to learn the material.
  • If a student is absent they can listen to the material they have missed on the podcast and be caught up with the rest of the class.
  • RSS - Really Simple Syndication - Makes getting news feeds and updated information very simple and teacher friendly. I want my students to realize the importance of knowing the world around them and introducing this would be a fundamental tool.
  • Introducing many of these tools to students can be something that they carry with them for the rest of their lives.
  • Students are so engulfed in technology that it is impairative that teachers stay up to speed on the same information and tools.
  • I also want to try a blog for my class. Somewhere the students can all discuss a chapter that they read or debate different topics.
  • A concern I have is being able to police that site and making sure that students use it for the right reasons. Safety is a concern with the blogs
  • E-Portfolio just makes life a little easier. I want to try and introduce this to my students. I think the more technology based introductions that I can make will better serve them when they leave my class.
  • This is information that all students can carry with them in the higher education field or it can be a great resume builder.