Teaching+with+Technology+Week+2

The readings this week focused on using technology to set individualized learning goals assessments. Most teachers would like to individualize instruction and assessment for their students, but with over 100 students a year this can become overwhelming. Technology can be used to help assess students' current level, interests, and skills to help the teacher and student work together to develop appropriate learning goals and assessment methods on an individual basis. The nature of technology itself allows students' to self-adapt assignments in ways that are possible with traditional pencil and paper tasks. The students' can listen to an audio version of text without teacher assistance, or use a multimedia presentation.

Studies have shown that technology helps students' self-esteem, comprehension, creativity, and many other aspects improve. This only works if the technology is incorporated with a specific educational purpose and not simply for the technology's sake. I see the potential of so many interactive technologies to help in the classroom, I admit I like the fancy, far-fetched stuff. Here's an interactive technology that could be easily incorporated into Early Childhood as so many parents already have iPhones.

media type="youtube" key="GnZTul_9fWc" width="339" height="280" Similar books could be created for older kids or for educational purposes.

Another technology with huge potentials for educating our "digital native" students with varied abilities and interests is Augmented Reality. Several companies have different varieties of this. The particular technologies in the following videos would be amazing if you combined them. I can see the potentials for Texas History in particular. Imagine taking a group of schools kids to the San Jacinto Monument or down to Galveston island with a teacher computer and "Augmented Reality" sunglasses. They could see the Battle of San Jacinto reenacted, or hear the personal letters of the soldiers and see their pictures. Imagine students being able to see the buildings after the 1900 hurricane in the location that they originally stood, or see what Galveston beaches looked like before the seawall stood.

media type="youtube" key="iT2ek8N0VlY" width="339" height="280"media type="youtube" key="5JZLWMHrenY" width="339" height="280" Of course, this is beyond the finances of most schools at the present time. However, Google Earth has 3D models, photos, and sometimes even videos of real places that students can access with internet access and a computer at home or at school. Combining Google Earth resources with an online encyclopedia, model building software, audio files, and websites containing primary documents seem a very effective and feasible method for a multimedia approach at the current time.