Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Educational Technology-Week 3


Desktop publishing and word processor are tools that I have been familiar with for a significant amount of time; however, prior to this week, I had not thought about the ways these tools could be used in the classroom.  These tools are so versatile and can be used in so many different ways in the classroom.  I think that allowing students to use these tools in the editing process of writing a paper. It is a much more engaging, simple, and encouraging way for students to edit their papers.  Another gret way to use these tools is a newsletter to send home to parents.  I think sending this home with students is a great way to keep parents up to date with what their child is learning and anything important that they need to know.  I created an example of a newsletter template that could be sent home to parents.
    
In addition to these resources that can be very effective in the classroom, I found several sources while doing my technology explorations that I will use right away when I am teaching.  One that I thought was fun was called Classroom Architect.  I am someone who really enjoys having a plan and being organized.  This resource can assist me in setting up a classroom layout prior to the school year.  It is a convenient tool to figure out how you want your classroom to be set up.  I also like the idea of using this tool to do seating charts throughout the school year.  This is an excellent print out that I could leave a substitute that would be clear and organized.  The floor layout could be left as well and used to explain where different things are that the substitute will need throughout the day.
 
Dimio is another source that I will get great use out when I am teaching.  I think this resource can be used in so many neat ways.  It is a tool that can read text aloud and can combine two different voices in order to create a dialogue. In an elementary class this can be used to have books read aloud to the class even if there are several characters.  Having the different voices to separate the different characters makes it exciting for students to listen to and can keep their interest longer.  Another way to use this tool is when teaching a foreign language.  With a Spanish background, if I end up teaching Spanish I will use this as a listening activity for the students.  Listening and comprehending is an important part of a foreign language and creating these dialogues in Spanish can be a great way to practice listening skills.  A worksheet that asks questions about the dialogue will help to check the comprehension of the language.


  

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