Distance Education

1. Identify and briefly discuss at least 5 pros and 5 cons of having virtual schools.
2. Discuss some of the key skills teachers need to have to be successful when teaching a virtual school.
3. Discuss your findings on one other key issue that you found interesting (from those listed above).
4. Think 2-3 years from now and discuss how virtual schools and online courses might impact your teaching.

There are many different aspects of online schools that are both positive and negative. Some of the negatives include students will miss out on the socialization they get in schools. They may not feel connected to the school or community because there is no sense of belonging. You have no wya of knowing how much information your students are absorbing. When taking tests they might just be coyping from another source and not retaining the information. If students want to play sprots or be involved in other clubs/activites it may be hard to find enough people in your area to meet up with. Also, if you want studetns to practice a skill but are not requiring them to turn in anything, you would never know how much effort they put into the activity.
Some pros include that the cirriculum can be more individualized. Locations doesn't matter, as well as the time at which the student decides to complete assignments. Students that have other responsibilities such as provinding money for their family or taking care of a family member. High is not made for all students, so some do not need the face-to-face interactions and therefore this type of envirnment may be a better fit for them.
For teachers to be successful in the virtual schools they need to know technology and understand how to teach through technology. Since they will not be aboe to actually show the students a skill, they need to be able to explain things over email, phone calls and in lesson plans.
Some of the things I found to be interesting was the number of employees for these schools. There were more adminstrators and other faculty members than actual teachers. Another thing I found intersting was the steps they were taking to try and connect students to each other such as virtual field trips, dances ect.
Being in the health and fitness area, I don't really see virtual schools having a huge impact on my content area. Especially in the physical education area because P.E. is something that needs to be taught in person and the only way to learn is by performing these skills over and over again.

Blogs In Education

1. When searching for educational blogs, I found more things talking about popular blog sites for teachers, blogs by teachers, and blogs about teaching. There were also a couple of blogs about using technology in the classroom. When looking up Educational Wikis, I found more assignments and projects that can actually be used in the classroom. Acroos the board I got simialr results on the different websites.
2. I like the idea of doing projects through a wiki webquest. There are so many more tools in the students hands when you allow them to work online and at home. I also liked the idea of having studetns set up their own blog. Here they can reflect on class, keep or journal or respond to prompts ffrom the teacher. I also like the idea of using less paper by using the internet to post assignments and projects. Some downsides of using technology in the classroom would be technical difficulites and if students are computer illterate they may fall behind the other students if they do not understand technology.
3. It is an news reader such as headlines. If you are doing a prject on health in the news, students can use these headlines in their projects and understand how to conect the material they are learning to real life situations.
4.

Concept Mapping

Identify and describe 3-5 innovative ideas or ways you could use concept mapping activities in your future classrooms. Discuss how these ideas might impact your approach to teaching.
What impact might the use of Concept mapping software have on student learning within your classroom? Give 2 or 3 specific examples.
Discuss the amount of time it may take to learn this type of application to the point where you would feel comfortable integrating it in your classroom. Do you think it would be worth the time? (you can be honest)

Going along with the map I revised, I could use them for goal setting activites. Whether it was in sports, nutrition or any aspect of the studetn's life that involves health. You can slo use concept maps to break down the material into smaller sections so the students can master the material. You can also use concpet maps in projects. One aspect of health is family history, so they can use these maps to make a family tree that describes genetics and possible inheirted diseases.
Concept mapping can influence your lessons plans and possibly projects that you may assign the students. Concept maps can be used for brainstorming ideas on projects, or assigning certain areas of the project to individual students.
For me, I think using concpet mapping for setting goals in the health and fitness field would be very valuable. I could even use it for when I coach. When tought and time are put into planning for concept mapping in class, I think it can be a very valuable tool to help engage students in the learning process.

Teacher Web Critique

1. Describe at least 3 ways how you see the use of a class web site could be used to support your future teaching. Provide specific details for each example.The website can be used for many different aspects, such as assigning homework, grades, and projects. I could post the syllabus and guidelines for the class that way if parents have questions they check the website first. Also, you can post links and handouts for projects so students can have them at home as well as at school.

2. Identify what you see as the top 2 ways students could use a class web site to enhance their learning and provide some justifications for your selections.
I think the best part of a class website would be a place for students to check grades and also a great place to place worksheets, study guides and homework for students to be able to access. If they are turning in projects over the internet, it eliminates paper which is always a plus.

3. Think about the page types and features of the Teacher Web system. What do you feel where the 2 strongest features or page types within the Teacher Web system? Why do you see these as the strongest?
Class grades because it is always helpful for students to know where they are at in the class. This also is a great way to make sure you stay up on getting grades to students and if they have questions or concerns they can reference the teacher web. The other strongest aspect of teacher web would be the ability to upload documents, handouts, pictures and videos. All of these are so important to learning and if used wisely can greatly enhance the learning experience for the students.

Multiple Intelligences In The Classroom

Identify which of the multiple intelligences you have strengths in and then discuss some of the core characteristics of that (or those) intelligences. Discuss which of the core characteristics best describe you and your learning style.
After taking the Multiple Intelligences test given to us in class, I found out that my strong points are in two different areas. I scored a seventy on kinesthetic and intrapersonal. Core characteristics of these include coordinated, concrete, tactile, and sensory for Kinesthetic and for Intrapersonal, core characteristics include affective and ethical awareness.


Discuss what students with this type of intelligence enjoy, are like, or tend to do within classroom settings.
I think all of these characteristics describe my learning style very well. Especially the kinesthetic characteristics. I like activities that are visually stimulating and organized where I know exactly what is expected and needs to be done.


Discuss how you will support this type of intelligence within your classroom and within your teaching.
Kinesthetic learners like hands-on activities and interacting with their peers and teachers. We can stay focused for extended periods of time on a certain activity. Intrapersonal learners like to communicate their feelings and their ideas. Also they show confidence in their abilities.
Integrating these learning styles into my classroom will be very easy since it will be an physical education class. But I want to go deeper than just P.E. I want my students to think about what they are doing and why they are doing it. For example, they will know what lifts they need to perform to strengthen their calf's.

Discuss what technologies stimulate thus type of intelligence
Technology that can be used in the classroom include journals and learning centers, and physical activity.


Discuss what technologies stimulate thus type of intelligence.
Making sure that you cover all kinds of learning styles will ensure that you are connecting with all of your students. A good teachers comes up with different activities and plans for one lesson to make sure all students will have a chance to learn the material.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. I created this blog for my tech class at WSU. We will be learning to integrate technology into the classroom.