Week 7!!!

I think it is important for educators to know how to incorporate the technology students use in everyday life in the classroom. Of course, it can be very hard to try and do so because there is so much technology these days that some of the technology may not be appropriate. For example, the internet is a great tool that could be used by students in the classroom, but MP3 players or cell phones can become a distractions and not work so efficiently. Educators need to know how to incorporate the technology students use in the classroom to enhance the learning experience for the student.

I think online chats and instant messaging can be a great tool for the classroom. Like the textbook says, "instant messaging typically increases communication and allows easy collaboration." If used right, it can be very effecitve because it will allows students to communicate outside of class. I think it allows more flexibility for students to communicate with each other because it is not face to face and its more relaxed; shy students will not have a problems asking question or suggestion ideas because it will be online. If students are using instant messaging or chat rooms in the classroom, teachers need to be careful and monitor what students are doing online. The students can easily get distracted and browse the web so it is imperative to be extra careful if teachers decide to use instant messagine/chat rooms.

I think there are benefits to using both asynchronous and synchronous communications. Both can have a powerful effect on the student, depending on their learning style. Some students might find that they learn better by reading a text rather than having a face-to-face conversation with someone, or vise versa. Also students might find that they learn better if they read the text first and then have a discussion about the information they read, or vise versa. For example, the teacher can assign the students to read a certain section for the next class meeting and when the students come back that day, as a class they can review what was read in the text. This way students can understand and review the material with both asynchronous and synchronous communication.

I have never used podcast so i don't really understand the concpet of it. When I read the information in the textbook it didnt appeal to me much. I dont know if I didnt fully understand the concept of podcasts but to me it seems like it does the same thing as a blog but with audios and videos. Maybe I didnt fully understand the idea but I do not feel very strongly about podcast.

I think that videogames help devlop students studying. I remember when I was in high school my teacher used to review us by playing jeopardy with the information that was going to be on the test. I thought it was a great way to review because I would know what I got wrong and what I needed to go over before the test. Videogames are a great and fun way to get students involved in the learning process. I think videos rather than textbook work is more appealing to students, so it will get their mind focused on the material. Also, another way to keep it interesting is having incentives for the winner of the game. This will motivate them even more to pay attention. Videogames can help students learn their study habits, maybe their is a particular way that learn the information better than another way. If I have children, I will allow them to play videogames, but it will not be an everday thing. Videogames can be fun and educational but too much of something is never good. There are many other ways that my child could also learn, videogames is just one option.