One emerging technology that I believe will make a significant impact on education is Sketch-Up, on which more information can be found on www.google.com/educators. Sketch-Up is a digital tool that where students can design things such as houses, solar systems, etc. The website discusses how the technology has been a useful tool for students with autism because of their general visual/spatial intelligence. What I really like about Sketch-Up, though, is that it would also be great for students who do not have autism. This would be especially true for students who have a strong interest in architecture and design.
I could incorporate the use of Sketch-Up in my own future classroom. One thing that would be interesting to do would be to have students design any kind of house and then write a corresponding story about who would live in the house. This would be a great way to reach the students how are visually and spatially gifted. I can see how students would become very interested in this type of assignment because they are not just writing a boring essay, but bringing their own thoughts and ideas out in a creative manner.
Another emerging technology that I believe will make a great impact on education is iLife ’08. More information on this tool can be found at www.apple.com/education/k12. iLife ‘08 merges the following tools to help create high quality digital projects: iMovie, iPhoto, GarageBand, iWeb, and iDVD. This technology is quickly becoming incorporated into the lesson plans of many teachers. The website says that teachers are using this technology as a way to enliven lessons as well as teach students important skills of the 21st Century (2007).
iLife ’08 could have an impact on my own teaching I could use it in my own lesson plans. For instance, I could have the class do digital videos (such as the ones we are doing in our technology class). This would be an engaging assignment for students who enjoy working with technology, as well as though who just enjoy working with fun programs. In this day and age, technology is imperative, so this would help to broaden the knowledge of students.
The third emerging technology that I feel will have a substantial impact on education, especially in English classrooms, is Weekly Reader Online. This feature allows students to use Google Docs to submit their written pieces and have their peers edit them. This tool is used mainly for the revision process that accompanies writing, and would be perfect for my classroom.
Being an English teacher I will need to help teach students how to make revisions to their own, as well as other people’s writing. This tool would have an impact on my teaching because I would be able to help guide my students in their editing process. This would have an impact on students because they would be able to become familiar with group work as well as editing skills. While I would be able to guide my students and have them develop this skill in other ways as well, I think that using Weekly Reader Online would allow for students to get into the text more and make revisions straight into the text as opposed to marking up papers with pens or pencils. The organization of thoughts and revisions would be much more legible on a computer than if someone were to handwrite little notes on the papers. More information can be found about this tool at http://www.google.com/educators/weeklyreader.html and http://www.weeklyreader.com/googledocs/.
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5 comments:
Great idea! You have some good ones that would really be beneficial in the English classroom. I like the Weekly Reader one especially because I feel the same way! I liked how you put in about students with autism because sometimes we forget about modifying our lessons. The Sketch-Up sounds like a lot of fun and so does the iLife '08! Nice Job!
You brought up a lot of great emerging technology ideas. I especially liked the Sketch-up idea because I work with an autistic student now and this program sounds like it would improve his situation in the classroom greatly. Also I really enjoyed the apple website as well with all of the different ideas it offered. It can really reach a wide range of students as well as faculty which is important in our changing world. Great job!
I wrote about the SketchUp program too! I thought it would be a fun way to teach setting. You are right about The Weekly Reader Online--it would be a good was to help with the writing process! Great!
I really liked the technologies you chose. They all seemed to be applicable to your classroom, especially the last one. I think google docs would have a significant impact on all content areas. Sketch-up sounds really fun, I want to check it out. Good essay Natasha.
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