Chapter 9: Technology in English and Language Arts Instruction

Motivating students in English and Language Arts can be very difficult. Some students do not like English or Language Arts classes. In school I hated writing papers, reading books and doing spelling. I found English and Language Arts to not be very exciting and so did some of the other children. Teachers now have the opportunity to use the Internet or software to help motivate their students. The students can play educational games that help them with spelling and reading instead of just reading a book they get a chance to make spelling and reading exciting. I always liked reading a book and then watching a movie on that book. I think that that helps motivate some children by having them reading and giving them a reward to watch the movie of that book. Teachers have more opportunities to help motivate their students in English and Language Arts than what I had when I was in elementary or middle school. At work the children really enjoy the big story books that you can listen to. I think that it is important to give the children more opportunities than just handing them a book. It also helps them find a way that they enjoy reading or writing. The book also gives strategies for technology in English/ Language Arts which I would use is interactive storybooks or electronic books that help the students with reading and help them with reading activities. I think an Online book club would be interesting for the children to use. It would be a great way that they can read the book and then talk to other people that have read that book. I also like having a way to give the children rewards with their reading which I would use a tracking system that helps to motivate the students to read. Overall I think that it is very important for students to be motivated in school because they will enjoy it more and learn more. I also think that it is important for teachers to motivate and find ways to help their students with any subject.

Chapter 8: Integrating the Internet into the Curriculum

The text talks about how to integrate the Internet into the curriculum. It says that “web-based activities have great potential to enhance learning, but they are time consuming to develop and implement and difficult to design in ways that have substantial, positive impact on students’ learning”. I think that it is important for teachers to incorporate web-based activities. It gives the children a chance to play a game or do a project on the Internet while learning. It is important for the teacher to find ways to use the Internet appropriately and effectively for the students to benefit from using web-based activities. I like how the chapter websites and ways to integrate the web-based activities. One section of the chapter talks about strategies for integrating web-based activities. There are five ways that the chapter gives which are support for student research, motivation for writing, practice for information literacy skills, visual learning problems and solutions and development of collaboration skills. Support for student research is about ways that students can learn more about what they are researching. They can find articles, papers and videos that tell them more about their research topic. Motivation for writing talks about how students can write for people that are far away from them. Practice for information literacy skills is when students get a chance to practice their computer and Internet skills. They can do it by researching things on the Internet. Visual learning problems and solutions is about finding visuals on a website that can include a picture or video. Finally development of collaboration skills is when students get to work together to work on their skills with the computer, Internet and each other. I think that it is important for students to learn how to use the Internet and the computer. It also is essential for students to be able to work together.

Chapter 7: Distance Learning Tools and the Role of the Internet in Education

Distance Learning is becoming more popular. With Internet developing and creating new things everyday learning online is growing also. More and more people are doing distance learning than going away to learn. The text talks about courses and programs with distance technologies. Web course development and support tools, characteristics of effective distance courses and programs, and assessing the quality of distance courses are the courses and programs with distance technologies. Web course development and support tools used design and delivery of web-based courses which include intranets, whiteboards and site capturing software. The characteristics of effective distance courses and programs has four common, essential characteristics. The four characteristics are well-designed and structured to support learning, engaging, collaborative activities, an interactive learning community and effective assessment strategies for online courses and programs. Communication on the Internet also is becoming more and more popular. More people are using email as a way to talk to people instead of calling someone. It is a great way of sending all sorts of information to someone that is quick and easy. Blogs, chatrooms, instant messaging and cyber collaborations have also become more popular. Blogs are a easy way for someone to write about things and speak their minds and then other people can read it and comment on what they think. Chatrooms and IM is also popular. When I was younger that is how a lot of us kids talked to each other. Although they we very popular awhile ago I think that cell phones and text messaging are even more popular. Text messaging is easier than IMing someone because to use IM you have to wait until that person gets online unlike just texting someone really quick. Technology has changed dramatically and is always changing for the better.

Chapter 6: Teaching with Multimedia and Hypermedia

The chapter begins by talking about the different between multimedia and hypermedia. Multimedia is “multiple media” or “a combination of media” which can be graphics, photographs, sound, motion video, etc. While hypermedia is “linked media” or “interactive media.” The text then talks about the current and future impact of hypermedia on education. It talks about how educators recognize the tools and use them when they enhance the learning in the classroom. There are four capabilities that offer the enhancement of classroom learning. They are increased motivation, flexible learning modes. development of creative and critical thinking skills and improved writing and process skills. Increased motivation talks about how some students struggle to do homework or tests so the students use hypermedia programs. When the students use the programs they are able to do the activity right away unlike when they do homework. The text also says that many educators believe the most important characteristic of hypermedia is its ability to encourage students to be proactive learners. So when it comes to flexible learning modes it is similar to how hypermedia programs increase motivation. There are students who have a difficult time doing writing assignments or tests but can verbally or physically show you how to do the assignment or test. Which is where hypermedia is so flexible with its learning modes because it is great for students who can achieve a better grade with something visual. Development of creative and critical thinking skills is about students use higher thinking skills to accomplish activities. Brown suggested that multimedia design is a complex and generative activity for learners and supports the development of metacognitive skills, problem-solving strategies, creative freedom, and self-awareness of individual learning styles under demanding project-based conditions. Finally with improved writing and process skills help students come up with different perspectives on organizing and presenting information. I think that it is important for teachers to use multimedia and hypermedia tools as a different way of teaching.

Chapter 5: Using Materials Generators

The text talks about materials generator software tools that include desktop publishing software, test generators and rubric generators, worksheet and puzzle generators, IEP generators, graphic document makers and PDF and forms makers. The desktop publishing software can be used in the classroom for all kinds of activities. Word processing software is an example of the desktop publishing software which students can make newsletters, flyers, posters, etc. Desktop publishing software can also be used by teachers. Test generators and rubric generators is a way for teachers to create tests and other assessments. Test generators the teacher can create and revise a test, randomly pick questions, select questions to a certain criteria, and create answer keys. But most test generators are only offered on paper for the tests which is where the online rubric generators comes in. You can go online a get a free rubric generator and the teacher can put in all of the information and then either keep it online or print it off. With worksheet and puzzle generators is a way for a teacher to create exercises and activities. Puzzle generators can create puzzles, crosswords and other activities which I think is a great way for children to review or learn about something instead of teaching them the whole time. In school I remember that we always enjoyed doing the puzzles and crosswords because it gave us a “break” from learning. I also remember that we always seemed to get those worksheets done faster than the other worksheets that the teachers gave us. IEP generators is for special education students. When I took the class Individuals with Exceptionalities our teacher showed us an IEP and they are very elaborate. The IEP had all of the special instruction that the student needed throughout the day. Graphic document makers is a software tool that you can make awards, certificates and greeting cards. This definitely would help a teacher to create awards and certificates that the teacher can give to the students. PDF and forms makers are software tools like Adobe and PDF Maker Pilot. You can create forms to collect information, create surveys, formatting and design elements. I think that teachers can benefit from all of the material generators because they can give you a template or create something that you can use everywhere and everyday.

Chapter 4: Recent Development in Software Tools

The text talks about software tools that have existed for a long time and how it is always improving. Some of the most recent tools that are useful in the classroom is:

• web-based software tools
• open-source software
• PDA tools
• web-enabled features
• better file-exchange compatibility
• software suites and integrated packages

The web-based software tools is what we are using in this class. I had no idea all of the things that Google does on its website. I did not know about Google docs or the sites that we use. It is nice to have Google docs so that you can type something up quick and save it online without having to use a USB flash drive. Then with PDA tools you use handheld computers which would be nice to have in a classroom but is not totally an ideal situation because some schools would not be able to afford some PDA tools. With web-enabled features people use this all of the time. Anytime you use the computer and look things up on the web websites use HTML or web page formats. Better file-exchange compatibility is fantastic because you can create a document in Microsoft Word 2010 and then save it so it is compatible to 2003- 2007 Microsoft Word. With any software you can usually save it more than one way which is really nice but there are still some kinks with file-exchanging because they sometimes do not work on other computers. Another great development in software tools is software suites and integrated packages because Microsoft Office has so many options that you can choose from. Microsoft Office has really developed the most with all of the options and how often they improve their software. Like I said above about how you can save from Microsoft Word 2010 to be compatible with Microsoft Word 2003- 2007 which is really nice because not everyone has 2010 or can afford to update Microsoft Office. The only software tool that I have not used or heard of is the open-source software. The text talks about open office which provides people with free access to software that can be downloaded to use on your computer. You can use the website for word processing, spreadsheets,presentations, graphics, databases that can be used in different languages. I think that it is great that software tools are developing all of the time and can become even more useful and helpful for students and teachers.

Chapter 3: How to use Simulations in Teaching: Integration Strategies and Guidelines

The text talks about how to use simulations in teaching and some of the ways are in place of or as supplements to lab experiments, role-playing, field trips, introducing and/or clarifying a new topic, fostering exploration and process learning, and encouraging cooperation and group work. With lab experiments the way teachers can use it when the experiments are too dangerous or they cannot do the experiment. This would be a great way to use instead of doing dangerous experiments along with reviewing material. Then with role-playing is a way that the students do not have to get up in front of class to role play. It is also a way to control how the discussion or play goes. With field trips you can go anywhere instead of leaving the classroom. I have heard of teachers doing this when they are learning about things like other countries and the students can go on a field trip that is far, far away. Introducing and/or clarifying a new topic talks about how students can learn about a topic or go in-depth on a certain topic before being graded. Fostering exploration and process learning is about motivating students to explore their cognitive processes. The text also talks about how students can concentrate on problem- solving steps and strategies. Finally with encouraging cooperation and group work talks about how these simulations can encourage cooperation between students and also be able to work in groups. I definitely would use simulations when I teach. I would use the field trips simulation to show the children places where you normally would not be able to go to. Overall I would definitely use them and I think that they would benefit children.