Monday, February 18, 2008

How can we use video in the classroom

Increase students interests
Different Methods of teaching
Connecting with the outside world.
For instruction and research.
Suits different learning styles
Learning from others
Not expensive to set up
Real world examples
Students with disabilities
Important to prepare
Supports theory
Distance learning Classes
Teach any subjects from any location

Monday, February 11, 2008

How could you use technology & the internet in the classroom?

How could you use technology and the internet in the classroom?
Technology is fast becoming a regular fixture in many classrooms, I have just complete a teaching placement in a school which had data projectors in every classroom along with having a well equipped computer room. In this school i was able to use technology to my advantage. I could have a powerpoint presentation read for classes if i wanted to get a certain topic covered and felt that i would not have the time to be writing notes on the board. I was able to have account templates ready that i could project onto the board and then fill out information either by use of computer or just with whiteboard marker.
I also managed to complete an interactive lesson with the students at the end of a topic which acted as a great revision/consolidation tool.
Students had access to computers during the day and boarders after school so i was able to give students research projects to work on during the week and revisit the project later to see how students were getting on.

Althought these sound like some great advances in the use of technology there are still many more resourses that could be used if we were to spend so more time advancing our technology systems and teaching students how to use different technologies.
Technology could allow students to study at their own pace and in a form that best suits their learning style.
Students could use podcasts to help them revise different topics or teachers could provide students with pre-recorded podcasts that can be used to help consolidate or revise a given topic.
With students using gaming computers more and more this would suggest that learning resources for Xboxes and Nintento DS lites could become a part of the learning environment not to mention the new technologies involved in the NInentendo WII.
Stdents could become involved in teleconferencing with or schools in other parts of the world this type of learning can be invaluable for students in their cultural and religious studies as it can provide students with real life examples of other peoples religious experiences.
This type of technology could also be used in the sense the teachers could record their classes and then make them available to students online or through an intranet system.
Other resources that could be developed would be the use of phones and text messages for teachers and students to interact.