Reflections Chapter 4 & 6

There are so many types of software; how do I know which ones to include in my lessons? There is a vast amount of software to choose from these days and most are beneficial in the classroom. In our book Morrison and Lowther listed 5 specific categories of software that can be used in the classroom. The types they list are productivity, research, communication, problem-solving, and educational software, (Morrison and Lowther, 93). In order to choose one to use in your lesson plan you need to decide what the goal or objective is for your lesson. A well thought out and planned lesson plan will help you determine which program best fits your needs. For instance, if you want your students to collect data about various states within the USA then a database would be helpful. If you want your students to create pie charts with to calculate their calories taken in for the day then a spreadsheet would be useful. I understand why students should use educational software and the internet, but why should my fourth-grade students learn to use a spreadsheet, database, or video editing software? There is a mathematical learning lesson involved when kids use spreadsheets. Students can use spreadsheets to make math calculations. They can use it to organize information, they can visualize the impact of changing numbers, they can store information neatly. Also, using spreadsheets makes learning fun for students. Databases are good for learning to search large amounts of information to get the records that they need...like a library database, or a database for a specific field or category about the states. Video editing software are very popular and are included in most computer application packages. "Videos are a great tool for capturing different stages of student work while creating 3-D models of an ancient artifact, student reenactments of a classical play, or student reporters collecting opinions on current events," (Morrison and Lowther, 101). How can student use of different types of software help improve scores on state tests? I think that it can help because students are very excited to use software compared to the traditional teaching style of sitting and listening to the information that they should memorize. Giving them hands on experience with the software creates ownership. It creates motivation and excitement and they will become active learners. Thus the improvement in test scores. Chapter 6 Now that I have access to the Web, how can I use it effectively? To make the web usage effective, you must use it in a meaningful way. What I mean is, there should be clear learning objective when using the web. Just having students doing whatever they want on the web, or instant messaging each other, is not a good use of academic time. The book divides the Internet use for teaching purposes into 2 categories 1)for searching for information and 2) it is for posting information for others to read and review, (Morrison and Lowther, 167). How do I manage students' use of the Web in my class? The book had great ideas actually for classroom management when computers are being used. One idea is to have the teachers desk in the back of the classroom so that she can see everyone screens. The second, and my fave, is to have the students sitting in a U shape. In this position the students would sit in the inside of the U shape so that the teacher can easily monitor every screen. Which features of the web do I use? Email is a popular thing to use for your classroom to speak with students and parents. Blogs are great for communicating as well or for having students do writing assignments and reflections. A lot of people use Wiki...I honestly think it's a horrible website to allow students to do research on. But there is a wealth of great information on the web for research papers. Content management software and Video streaming are all great to use in the classroom. (Morrison and Lowther, 169).