Week 7

There are many writing assignments that you can complete in the classroom to use new technology.  As a teacher you can have your students make a blogging site and have them write about certain things and have them respond to others in their class.  Power Point assignments are another great way to have your students write and teach others in their class.  The most basic thing you can have your students do it write a paper on microsoft word.  A way to make that assignment a little different is by having your students make a graph on microsoft excel to show what they wrote about.

There are many factors in making a powerpoint successful.  When  you construct a power point you want to be able to catch your audiences attention, but without dristracting them from learning the information.  A great way of doing this is by making sure your backround is not to over the top crazy.  At the same time you do not want it to be too bland because your audience will lose interest.  Another great way to catch the audiences attention is by having sounds and videos.  With the sounds you do not want them to carry on to long becasue it may cause a distraction.  With the videos, if you imput one you need to make sure that it has to do with the subject.

I feel that technology in the classroom is great for the students.  There are so many ways to have students write about things they learn in the classroom.  They learn new ways to share information with others.  I really like the microsoft power points.  I feel that this software is almost taking over in the teaching world.  This is a grreat way for students to be able to have what is learned in class.

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

Chapter 2 Blog

Personal digital assistants are handheld  computers.  The handheld computers are things like the Ipad or the palm piolet.  The personal digital assistants are a great way to keep organized in the classroom.  Teachers can map out their daily agendas so they know what they have to cover.  Teachers can also use the calenders on the handheld computers to send the students what events will be upcoming in the classroom.  Students can use these handheld computers to record the teachers audio lectures.  The Palm uses window opperating system, so the students can also use these handhelds to take notes and write down homework assignments.  Just like any other technology in the classroom, the handhelds can be a distraction.

Online surveys have become very popular in the american culture.  Online surveys are used to get the opinion of americans on many different things.  Politics use surveys to find out what the people will and will not support.  Companies use surveys to find out what the American people will and will not buy.  Online surveys could help us in the classroom because students can make surveys and then make graphs on their results.  Another great way to use surveys is for school districts to make a survey to find out what the general population feels the schools need improvement on.  Two good rules for writing a good survey are to avoid bias, and avoid long questions.  If these are included in surveys then the results will not be what you need.

Personal digial assistants are a great way for students to learn how to use technology.  These things can really make a classroom run better.  The only problem I have with these is that students often get off track, and with basically a mini computer in their hands they could really lose focus.  As far as the internet surveys go, I feel that these are very usful.  The survey is a great way to get an idea of the thinking of the general population.  The only problem I feel about surveys is that some surveys are bias and will be worded in a way that leads you to answer in a certain way.

Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M., Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful learning with technology. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.