April+Videos

April Videos
I very much enjoyed the creative way Adam Bellow presented web tools in his presentation, “And the Best Free Web Tool Award.” Adam Bellow presented on web tools. He refers to them as web tools instead of Web 2.0 because he believes that they are just web instruments not a different version of the web. Bellow stated with over 24 million new websites added every year it is important to try to try one website at a time. Many times I have been very frustrated with the amount of web tools our there but when taken one at a time and using tools that fit your subject and student level, tools can be a great add in to your classroom. When I am promoting technology in the classroom to other teachers that may have this excuse of excessive tools, this is always my advice. A site to find great sites for your subject matter is EduTecher.com. I love this site: links to sites, short writing about the site, and sorted by subject matter.
 * And the Best Free Web Tool Award Goes To...**

Some great new tools that I learned more about were JayCut, Capzles, and SpiderScribe. JayCut is a video editing tool. In next year’s curriculum, I hope to introduce some animation or video editing into my 8th grade. JayCut would be a great tool to use in that case. Capzles is a timeline creator. I think it would be great for students to make a timeline of their artwork from 6 through 8 or as an art history tool a timeline of art or artist lives. Lastly, SpiderScribe is a web based thinking guide tool. Currently, I have students in my classes use ExploraTree but it has some glitches at times. SpiderScribe could be a possible transition tool if ExploraTree continues to have problems.

During Adam Garry’s presentation, “Digital Learners in the Industrial Classroom: Are Our Students Leaving Us in the Digital Dust?” Garry presented with a panel of students and teachers. While Garry facilitated a discussion about technology, students and teachers shared candidly about their personal and shared experiences. I thought it was a great idea to include students in the discussion of where they want to see education heading. Many times teachers, administration, and lawmakers believe they have all of the answers but by looking to the source for the answers is a potentially much more beneficial solution.
 * Digital Learners in the Industrial Classroom: Are Our Students Leaving Us in the Digital Dust?**

One topic that I believed was great to propose to the students was about what teachers are doing with technology that are ineffective. The students pointed to misunderstanding of technology and PowerPoint as being the most frustrating occurrences with technology in the classroom. When asked about proposing video games in the classroom, I was surprised by the students’ responses. Many of the students that spoke did not feel like having video games in the classroom would be beneficial. They explained that the type of video games they were interested in (sports and shooting) would be difficult to transition to an educational setting. Overwhelming, the students were in agreement that the more teachers involved technology the more interested and involved students will become in their education.