Having read the material and viewed the video clips, I have some ideas about this 3D web business and some questions as well.
I can see some promise in this, particularly once they are developed a little further and perhaps they won't require as much time to "build." Second Life sounds interesting to me, but I doubt I will sign up anytime soon; I truly do not need anything else to distract me at this point in my life and studies. Perhaps someday. It seems that it is something that I should keep an eye on in a broader sense, though. There definitely are some exciting possibilities.
A few months ago I knew nothing about any of the virtual reality games and worlds. My 9 yr old son bought Sim City 4 (I think) at his school's book fair, (a dagger in my heart--why would anybody ignore books in favor of...anything! But I digress...) I had no idea he would become as interested as he has, and an even bigger surprise is how he has learned from it. He has come to us and asked so many questions: "Dad, does the Mayor get to keep all the money people pay in taxes?" Thus began his first Civics lesson (from me). "I heard some man on TV complaining about taxes. But on Sims its the taxes that pay for the roads, bridges, and buildings. What do taxes pay for in the real world?" First discussion of tax policy and infrastructure. So I know that these "games" actually do stimulate thinking.
However, maybe it's my age, or the fact that I'm not a computer whiz, but part of me can't help but view all of this as a high tech dog and pony show. I understand that these tools are useful to develop interest in the topic for the students, and that many, if not most, students learn more effectively through some sort of hands-on method than passively through lectures or even film presentations. But when does it all degenerate into simply entertaining the students? Must we entertain them? Would it be better if we simply turned on the computer and let it teach the lesson? Of course it wouldn't, but I do see that notion as a potential pitfall that mediocre teachers could fall back on; it could be a sort of "shut up and color!" mindset that would be manifestly unproductive in the classroom.
On the other hand, I can see great value in being able to re-create historical events for the students to work with, in order to get some orientation to the events themselves. To grab a quick example, to be in the crowd in Derry on Jan 30, 1972, and see what really happened on Bloody Sunday. Or perhaps on the Mall in Washington, among the throngs who stood and listened to MLK speak so eloquently about his dream. It could be a VR replacement for the old films I watched as a kid, Walter Cronkite's CBS news show "You Are There." I can see great value in this, especially if film, photos, etc. can be integrated without alteration, to avoid the interpretive license pitfalls. (It seems enough people already believe an alternate version of historical truth is being taught in schools.)
Lest I be seen to be running down games, I know there is value in video games to some extent. I've read that the military claims that today's pilots are much more quick to adapt to the environment of the cockpit than were those recruits of my generation. (I saw that firsthand, again with my son when we went to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. We "rode" the F-18 simulators and while I began piloting the plane, I switched over to let my son man the stick and he was much smoother and better at it than I am. He has far more experience using inputs such as joysticks etc. than I do; mechanical inputs such as those used driving a car have a much different feel than do the electronic inputs, and I was at a distinct disadvantage.
I think once we figure out how to use them, how to harness their potential and minimize the risks, apps such as Second Life and others will be very useful in the classroom. I just don't think we're as close as we think we are.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Educational software reviews
I decided to look up some reviews of a software called "Real Lives: Interactive Life Simulation." It is a program designed for students 7th grade and up. Its purpose is to allow students to "live the life" of a student from anywhere in the world, facing (and making) the same choices that person does, and seeing the consequences of making those choices. It seems like a very good way to give students a glimpse of life in other places, while at the same time showing that people are people wherever they live.
I found a review of the software on LearningVillage.com. The url for the review is here. It recieves high marks from the reviewers for its educational value, ease of use, and overall design. The review is pretty detailed and gives a number of scenarios for its use. I would say that overall I would be comfortable ordering the software based on this one review.
I found a review of the software on LearningVillage.com. The url for the review is here. It recieves high marks from the reviewers for its educational value, ease of use, and overall design. The review is pretty detailed and gives a number of scenarios for its use. I would say that overall I would be comfortable ordering the software based on this one review.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Blog #2-- Software
Here is the order in which I would place the different applications:
Word processors can be used for a number of things in addition to merely assembling sentences and paragraphs; today's advanced applications, like Pages from Apple, make it very easy to add images to stories. My son has written stories on Pages and then we go online to try and find images to illustrate the story. It's loads of fun (for him and me) and he learns a host of skills in the process. I believe kids should be introduced to this as young as 7 or 8. It should not be used to substitute for actual handwriting, since there certainly is value in learning how to write by hand, but once those skills are firmly rooted they should move on to Pages, or Word.
Similarly, the web browser is a tool that should be learned by kids early on--in fact I would wager it's probably the app that most kids first learn to use. However, for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who has spent any amount of time on the web, they need to be monitored carefully, and by all means use whatever filters are available, especially for younger children! Having said that, there is so much out there for kids to learn just by surfing the web that it is important to teach them how to use it. As mentioned above, it can be used hand in hand with other tools to build projects and add value to even simple projects.
Spreadsheets are useful tools that should be part of the basic toolbox of any high school student; they should have mastered their use by that time. I think the optimum time to introduce them would be around fifth or sixth grade. Because they have so many and such varied uses, spreadsheets along with the two above should be a part of the fundamental canon of technical knowledge of students.
Presentation software (Keynote, PowerPoint, etc.) is used to enhance the kinds of presentations that students should be required to give at frequent intervals. Most adults list public speaking as a high ranking fear. Early and frequent practice in front of one's peers can help give confidence to students and prepare them by introducing skills like critical thinking, and thinking on one's feet. Keynote can help that in a couple of ways. First, it gives the student a solid outline to use as he gives his talk, and it makes the talk more interesting via the use of images, etc. It is also more interesting to prepare than writing an outline on a piece of paper, increasing the student's learning capability. They should be using this by the time they leave middle school, at the latest.
Finally, some sort of media editing software should be used by students to help unlock the creativity in them. Although much creative possibility exists in the programs above, it is in the media editing that they can truly let their imaginations loose and create what truly speaks to them. For some it might be making videos with iMovie, for others maybe they record and edit their own music with Garageband. Those with an interest in photography will no doubt want to explore Photoshop to see the amazing things that can be done with it. Most likely this would be done by high school students, though I imagine there are a good many in middle schools who would have both the interest and the ability to do so.
- Word Processor
- Web Browser
- Spreadsheet
- Presentation software
- Video editing tool
Word processors can be used for a number of things in addition to merely assembling sentences and paragraphs; today's advanced applications, like Pages from Apple, make it very easy to add images to stories. My son has written stories on Pages and then we go online to try and find images to illustrate the story. It's loads of fun (for him and me) and he learns a host of skills in the process. I believe kids should be introduced to this as young as 7 or 8. It should not be used to substitute for actual handwriting, since there certainly is value in learning how to write by hand, but once those skills are firmly rooted they should move on to Pages, or Word.
Similarly, the web browser is a tool that should be learned by kids early on--in fact I would wager it's probably the app that most kids first learn to use. However, for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who has spent any amount of time on the web, they need to be monitored carefully, and by all means use whatever filters are available, especially for younger children! Having said that, there is so much out there for kids to learn just by surfing the web that it is important to teach them how to use it. As mentioned above, it can be used hand in hand with other tools to build projects and add value to even simple projects.
Spreadsheets are useful tools that should be part of the basic toolbox of any high school student; they should have mastered their use by that time. I think the optimum time to introduce them would be around fifth or sixth grade. Because they have so many and such varied uses, spreadsheets along with the two above should be a part of the fundamental canon of technical knowledge of students.
Presentation software (Keynote, PowerPoint, etc.) is used to enhance the kinds of presentations that students should be required to give at frequent intervals. Most adults list public speaking as a high ranking fear. Early and frequent practice in front of one's peers can help give confidence to students and prepare them by introducing skills like critical thinking, and thinking on one's feet. Keynote can help that in a couple of ways. First, it gives the student a solid outline to use as he gives his talk, and it makes the talk more interesting via the use of images, etc. It is also more interesting to prepare than writing an outline on a piece of paper, increasing the student's learning capability. They should be using this by the time they leave middle school, at the latest.
Finally, some sort of media editing software should be used by students to help unlock the creativity in them. Although much creative possibility exists in the programs above, it is in the media editing that they can truly let their imaginations loose and create what truly speaks to them. For some it might be making videos with iMovie, for others maybe they record and edit their own music with Garageband. Those with an interest in photography will no doubt want to explore Photoshop to see the amazing things that can be done with it. Most likely this would be done by high school students, though I imagine there are a good many in middle schools who would have both the interest and the ability to do so.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Online learning
The best part of an online class-- by far-- is the ability to shoehorn the study time into your own unique schedule. That has worked out fairly well, for the most part, in this class. I do wish that the readings for the upcoming week were posted early so that we could look at them over the weekend; that would take a lot of pressure off during the week.
In other online classes I've taken we had video lectures. I'm not sure what I think about that, although I do enjoy a good lecture and it certainly hits my learning style. But sometimes they ran to 45 minutes or an hour and that got pretty tedious. So maybe there's a happy medium somewhere. Last spring/summer I was part of the Ireland studies program at GRCC. We had three online classes during the month of May, followed by three weeks in Ireland in June. May was a ton of work; hundreds of pages of reading each week, a few hours of film/lecture online, and a handful of posts on Bb discussion boards. What was amazing was how many of us posted dozens of times during the week; we had some very lively discussions! Of course we were all very excited to know that after all the tedium of the online part we'd be actually going there and seeing all the things we'd been reading about and discussing.
I actually liked the Atomic tutoring videos. I was able to pick and choose from the ones I wanted to learn more about beyond just the ones that were assigned. (I also found them useful after I bought my Mac)
Overall I've enjoyed the class. Whether I would take another is still an open question. I don't think there are many of them offered in the classes I need from here on out. I certainly would consider it if the option was available.
I think history classes could be done very well as an online class. Since much of it is reading and discussion, with lecture to fill in the gaps, it lends itself to an online venue quite well I think.
I think many people (outside the education establishment) believe that you can take just about any class at any school anywhere online. A number of people have made comments to me that lead me to believe this. Few of them seem to know how few classes really are offered.
In other online classes I've taken we had video lectures. I'm not sure what I think about that, although I do enjoy a good lecture and it certainly hits my learning style. But sometimes they ran to 45 minutes or an hour and that got pretty tedious. So maybe there's a happy medium somewhere. Last spring/summer I was part of the Ireland studies program at GRCC. We had three online classes during the month of May, followed by three weeks in Ireland in June. May was a ton of work; hundreds of pages of reading each week, a few hours of film/lecture online, and a handful of posts on Bb discussion boards. What was amazing was how many of us posted dozens of times during the week; we had some very lively discussions! Of course we were all very excited to know that after all the tedium of the online part we'd be actually going there and seeing all the things we'd been reading about and discussing.
I actually liked the Atomic tutoring videos. I was able to pick and choose from the ones I wanted to learn more about beyond just the ones that were assigned. (I also found them useful after I bought my Mac)
Overall I've enjoyed the class. Whether I would take another is still an open question. I don't think there are many of them offered in the classes I need from here on out. I certainly would consider it if the option was available.
I think history classes could be done very well as an online class. Since much of it is reading and discussion, with lecture to fill in the gaps, it lends itself to an online venue quite well I think.
I think many people (outside the education establishment) believe that you can take just about any class at any school anywhere online. A number of people have made comments to me that lead me to believe this. Few of them seem to know how few classes really are offered.
Friday, February 1, 2008
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