Sunday, April 11, 2010

Tools to Play With

I was really hoping our discussion in 568 would revolve around some of the tools that we read about this week. I just love the idea of podcasting for education. I do believe that hearing someone read information can help with comprehension and connect the listener in a personal way to the intent of the message or passage in text. I love this connection when it is well done and enjoy going for long walks with my iPod to hear a book on tape. I also like being able to hear our instructor once a week in the podcast, even though I could get the information by reading the weekly materials and following the syllabus. The portability factor is also a very valuable asset, especially for people who commute to school or for students that benefit from hearing information presented in a format that can be heard again and again. Some like to listen while they get some routine housework done or get a little exercise-I know I can only sit for so long before I become restless or my eyes start to get heavy! Lastly, most younger students love this type of technology.

I also want to try using Jing as a way to capture images or web pages and share them with friends without using links. I think this will work well with Twitter and Facebook, giving me more ways to utilize these tools of communication. As an instructional tool, it seems ideal and I would like to see more examples of teachers using it.

The Copyright WebQuest was an interesting and detailed way to help students or teachers understand what copyright is and how it applies to them. I like the use of role playing to understand the concerns of different individuals with respect to copyright, (librarian, administrator, author and technophile). This is also an hands-on way to develop guidelines to follow on copyright issues.

Digital storytelling seems to be a popular tool used in several of the schools that I have visited this year. I think it is a great way to have students collaborate and create a digital representation of their work, that they can share with the school and the community through the library media center websites. This is a motivating and fun technology tool for the students.

1 comment:

  1. Wow, you are deep into the technology stuff. I think that is where kids are today, but they should also be introduced to the pleasure of a good paperback while sitting under a tree.

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