What I learned from other Articles...

I like the idea of using technology to enhance education, but not to take over it. At first when I was hearing about all of the new ideas and technologies out there, I thought that maybe using these instead of the good old fashioned techniques was a bad thing. But after experimenting with them myself, and reading about other's ideas, I think these "new fangled" things can definitely be an asset to the classroom. I looked at two different articles which featured the digital microscope and also the stellarium.org site. I wish some of these things had been around when I was in grade school. Instead of making things more complicated as I thought technology might do, I think these things are very beneficial, both to help us out as teachers and to help our students have a really solid understanding of science and its components. Thank you technology!

The Tech Savvy Teacher

Activity: Temperature of water

Standard: 3, Objective 2a
Observe and measure characteristics of water as a solid and liquid.

In the olden days, you pulled out your twenty pound microscope, gathered some slides and swabbed some specimens on them, then watched as your students all tried to gather around to take a peek through the lens. Today there are such things as digital microscopes which can be projected on a computer screen for all to see, and can even capture video. Other savvy options include computer programs to record the eclipses of the moon. With all of the many technological options for school teachers today to put a little “oomph” in lesson plans, we decided to take a test drive on the wide open road of advancements for the classroom and put one of these new inventions to the test.

To teach the characteristics of water we began by putting ice water in a pot and watching as the temperature increased, heating it to the evaporation point, and then collected the evaporating water with a glass plate, allowing it to condense to form water. During this process we recorded our data with the digital thermometer and tracked the increase in temperature, noting the change in the state of the water from solid to liquid, making observations along the way, hypothesizing about the changes that might take place.

For the experiment we used a digital thermometer, digital camera and computer program which charts and collects the data from your experiment called logger pro. Using the digital thermometer allows students to visually observe the increase, or decrease in temperature. The data was collected in the logger pro program which allows students to see the results and discuss their hypotheses and view the generated data to see if they were correct or proven wrong in their theories.

Here's an up close view of our ice in it's beginning stages:

Here we are watching as it changes from ice to a liquid, beginning recorded with the Logger Pro software and the digital thermometer.

Notice our safety gear! Goggles and gloves, always be protected!

Finally a liquid!

Here we cover the boiling water with a plate to create moisture (or condensation), giving the appearance of rain.

Here Devin is entering his observations using Kidspiration 2, a great program with many different formats to document programs, use diagrams, etc.

Our temperature graph. At the top of the graph it reached the boiling point.

A video of our "rain".

Wow, I never knew how many different rules existed for using technology. There are so many different resources, but we as teachers have to make sure we use them properly. I already knew they were a bad idea, but as teachers we definitely cannot use pirated videos, music, etc. When it comes to some things though there are exceptions (like when all of my scantron sheets get wet). Everything I use as a teacher needs to be both acquired legally and used legally. And I need to sight my sources! The sighting doesn’t end, even when college is over...Also, something that I didn’t know about videos in the classroom was that they cannot be used as rewards or incentives without acquiring the proper permission and probably paying a fee. Dear Disney...

When we discussed Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge, I learned about so many available resources to supplement my teaching that I never even dreamed of. I loved using the digital thermometers in class with the pro logger program, and exploring what the moon and various constellations looked like the day I was born with the Stellarium program. There’s so many things out there that did not exist when I was a child, I realize from this class just how important it is to stay up to date with today’s technology for the classroom.

I love this class!

I loved the information we found out today about RSS feeds. I think it would be a great way to keep yourself informed about current events and topics in regarding Education and also a good way to keep parents informed. I think when I’m a teacher I will definitely have a class blog and also post books on a website like good reads for my student’s parents to access for quality references of what they could have their children read. For instance parents could go there to have a resource for what to have their children read over a summer break. Children can definitely benefit as well from these modern resources. Better informed parents means better prepared students. Students could even have a class blog and include their own book recommendations and favorite sites to visit for help with homework, fun games to play, etc. The internet is an amazing resource when you know how to use it properly to your advantage.

First day of IP&T 287!

AHHH! So, this has been slightly overwhelming, but I'm excited to be doing this new technology class. I think it's going to help me increase my slightly lacking knowledge of "up and coming" technology and help make me a cool teacher on the block, instead of the uncool one dragging in overheads on the first day of school.