Evalutech 3/26/08

Evalutech is a crazy good resource for teachers. It hooks teachers up with links to a ridiculous amount of teaching resources and well.... more links. The site, " adheres to specific criteria" so that all the information is valuable, and I'm guessing spam free as well. If I were a teacher I would indefinitely read the newsletters every month. This months newsletter informs teachers about the Apple Learning Interchange (API), which is a great interface because it allows teachers to upload and share lesson ideas and exercises with each other. I would be very interested in API if I were a teacher. Unfortunately there are sixteen states included in the SREB department, and California isn't one of them. The "online professional development" function of the site would definitely appeal to me. I would use this tool a significant amount, and especially as a new teacher. As a handicapped person myself I can appreciate the option of making technology more accessible to students with disabilities. The Evalutech site has six links to different organizations and sites that help make technology more accessible for disables students. If I were a teacher with disables students I would go to the Southeast DBTAC Accessible IT in Education Portal link because it is the best one, and has lots of information and data from the k-12 level. I would also use the "Resources Reviewed by Other Organizations". This page has links to reviews, awards, and research on technology for students. Another really good part of Evalutech is the software evaluation of six companies. I'm guessing that these are six of the biggest companies in the business, and if I were a teacher I would look into these companies indefinitely.

What I've learned that will be useful

I plan on being a history teacher, and I can think of lots of things that I’ve learned in the last half semester that I can use in my classroom. I could begin my class by introducing them to the file storage utilities like yahoo files and google docs. As in the current 422 class I could put assignments and links in the class group.

The online applications for designing rubrics are a very useful tool that I will definitely look into using. I’m a fan of PowerPoint, I can use PowerPoint presentations for a multitude of different lesson plans. Also I could make interactive fun activities within PowerPoint (ie: quizzes and review exercises). I would create my lessons to comply with the learning styles of the different multiple intelligences. Webquests are a great teaching device for history teachers. By sending of the students to do the research themselves, webquests open the door to much more information than can be found in one place. I also like how the webquests can be monitored to see exactly who did what.

Webquests

I think that webquests are a useful tool for teachers in the classroom. The students benefit in many ways, not to mention it holds their interest. Instead of just giving the student the information webquests captivates them and makes them delve farther into the learning process. It teaches them to distinguish between good information and useless information and where to go to find it. Also it teaches students to not give up when they do find something, and to keep prodding for more information. And as talked about in the assigned reading students have to "designate team members to fulfill various roles", which is an important part of any team. Different teams could be paired together for multiple webquests and be assigned to different roles. This not only helps the student learn from a different perspective, but if the student needs help he/she can get aid from another group member that has already "been in the same shoes". Making a webquest is relatively easy also. The level of intricacy can be decided by the group as a whole, or by one student choosing to do so. The collaborate element of making a webquest is fascinating to me. When we were in the classroom working on our webquest I thought it was interesting that when I changed something on the page it immediately changed the page on Jessica's screen. I didn't expect such an immediate response. I find it very interesting that the students can, "share a computer" as I heard somebody else in the class say. When introduced, I didn't think webquests were that useful for students, but after doing one and reading about them I could definitely see myself as a teacher implementing them into my lesson.

Teaching students to use the internet and spreadsheets

Elizabeth Caulfield definitely knows what she is talking about. Kids are on the internet all day, or at least have it available at their fingertips. I wouldn't know what she is talking about when she writes, "Some of the best information on the internet is available on to those who pay for it.". Other than this last semester I've barely/if ever had to pay for information on the internet. If a site wanted me to pay for info then I would just look in different places for it. She writes about search engines and it reminded me of the class a few weeks ago in which we explored different search engines and it surprised me at how many different sites there were. The different sites are tailored (or can be) to either the interests of the the student, or the ultimate goal of seeking knowledge. I personally prefer good ol' Google.

I'm not a fan of excel. And I'm not afraid to say it. It's just they (Microsoft) tried to fit in way too much stuff. Clicking, dragging, anything by accident can result in a loss of data, and sometimes is difficult to recover. The part of the assignment that uses "auto format" was impossible for me. There are multiple format buttons on the top toolbar, and after clicking on all five of them I found no, "auto format" button anywhere. On my first chart I messed around a lot and finally got a weird border on it, but still couldn't auto format. And I tried help a bunch, but still couldn't get it. It's something SO EASY and I know it, but I just can't figure it out. In the classroom I could definitely see myself using excel though. It's worth learning, because it's a great way to present data to students, in which from there they can create endless projects and assignments.