Final exam

The final exam consisted of groupwork between educators of different disciplines. My group consisted of English, mathematics and myself, a science educator.

Our task was to come up with interdiscplinary activities for students regarding the future of U.S. healthcare. We came up with using economics to encompass math, the pharmaceutical industry to take care of science, specifically chemistry and english takes both of these topics and transforms it into an innovative and coherent presentation.

I valued the ideas of my colleagues. I specifically liked the idea of the students presenting their final projects a group of parents and video taping it. In this way the students understand that their work will be looked at. The video will then be posted online for others to view and comment.

Second life? Really?

Today we had a woman come in to teach us of all the interesting and applicable things we can do with second life in education. I'm gonna have to take a pass on it though and say there's roughly nothing you can do with second life in education.

If you really do need me to elaborate, I'm not sure what to tell you. It was a joke, a waste of time, a sham, I wanted my money back.

On the second half, however, we did learn a bit about copyright laws in education. Pretty much "if you didn't make it, you better not use more than 5 minutes of it." Which seems fair superficially. But when you realize that certain things would be valuable to our society as a whole if they were free in education it starts to break down.

Day 8

Today we learned how to use 2 fairly interesting pieces of software which pretty much both have the same function or making movies/slide shows. The first piece of software seemed to be much easier to use than the second one as it pretty much spoon fed you what you needed to do at each step. The second piece of software may have been more advanced but I could not see as many features that would be needed. I have a hard time seeing where movie/slide show presentations would be usable in a science classroom. They may function a lot better on the humanities side. Either way the presenters did a good job presenting their respective software.

Day 7

If I had to pinpoint a change in my though to smartboards, it would be day 7.

While trying to explain a lesson in Equilibrium using my prepared smartboard lesson, something hit me. I wanted to draw a diagram and instinctively went over to the whiteboard to do so. JMG asked why I didn't use the smartboard instead. And just like that, I was hooked. With a press on the screen, I could have my notes a whiteboard simultaneously. If I recoreded lectures, they would be able to be posted on line for students to go over if they miss a day.

While it is something I should have realized, I do appreciate that technology quite a bit more now.


Now if only we could get the cost down...

Day 6

Today we moved over to the cheaper side of technology. We learned about iChat, a program which can be used to work on files with someone else across computers as well as simply chat with them.

It is certainly something I would recommend to students who needed to work on a project together but don't have the time. I doubt I would ever be able to seriously use it in class. In fact, there is a good chance the school's network would have it blocked.

We also learned of eluminate. Similar in vein to iChat in that files can be worked on cooperatively however in this program, several people can work and speak at the same time. Granted, the full software does come with a fee, the trail software can be used for up to 3 people.

All in all, these programs are something I may put on a syllabus or link section and briefly mention them to students if meeting together for a project is ever troublesome but I do not find it something that can be easily integrated into the classroom. Not for its lack of use but because that defeats the purpose.

These programs are used for connecting people that could otherwise not be connected.

Day 5

Today we spent the class learning to use smartboards and eventually playing with them. I'll be the first to admit that they're fun and cool but I still feel that in the end, you pay 3-5 thousand dollars for what is essentially a power point projector and a whiteboard. I struggled hard to develop a lesson for chemistry in which the smartboard would really help and even be integral to. I came up with something that seems forced. I would much rather be using a whiteboard and my own demonstrations. It's not as though chemists come up short on those. Between small explosions, light effects, feeling the heat or cold, seeing the gas or the color. A smart board just doesn't do it justice.

Perhaps they will be more useful when the cost decreases and teachers are not forced into using them and they can be an aside. Much like the projector is today.

Day 4

Today we learned about several online resources for teachers. Some more useful than others. Because of the fact that we have several disciplines in the class, we had a much more broad overview rather than a deep, targeted one. Which was unfortunate, because the science resource did have a few goodies I took note of. Most notably, the ideas for labs.

Some of the resources for other disciplines seemed worthwhile but again, the class was far too broad and not deep enough.

I think the internet is a great resource for teachers helping other teachers. Until now, we've just been learning about different projects students can undertake with technology and spent little time on how teachers themselves can learn. These resources were a breath of fresh air, albeit one that was too short.