Educational Games Online!

For this emerging technology post I will be talking about educational games online.
Educational games are a great way for most kids to learn and stay engaged at the same time.  Online there are games for many different subjects.  For this blog i am reviewing  www.games.edublogs.org.

This is a blog about educational game sites.  I chose to look into math games to see what i could find. Although there were sites that had games relating to science, math, and reading.

All you have to do is go to the above link, and choose from a list of educational game sites, i chose to check out math playground, this took me to a website in which i could choose from several different games that challenge several concepts in math such as, pre-algebra, algebra, fractions, graphing linear equations, decimals and many others.

This could be a very helpful tool to teachers looking to keep their students engaged in the classroom and to mix up teaching methods, this would also effectively integrate technology into the classroom.

Hope you enjoy the games!

Link to my podcast!

 The technology i am using for this emerging technology project is podcasting!
Podcasting is basically an audio or video file uploaded to the internet for anyone to listen to or view.
I started my podcast by using my recording gear, it was fun because i love recording no matter what the occasion.
The podcast is a fun and easy technology to use, making the podcast is simple but for people who are not as computer savvy uploading it to the internet may be the hardest part of the whole technology!



My link to my podcast.............

https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/user/jjseymou/podcast.mp3

URL to my social bookmarks

http://www.delicious.com/theworldwillend18

Module 2- 6-8 paragraphs regarding education and technology articles!

Justin Seymour

EDUC w-200

September 17, 2010

Professor Bragg

Module 2 Essay Teachers and Tech

            The first article I read was titled A few ways to motivate teachers to use tech. This was a very interesting article discussing what I believe to be a few simple and very reasonable and effective ways to use technology in the class room. The author uses a quote that embodies the lesson he has learned about life he says "Do I want to be right? Or do I want to be effective?   The issue of educational technology is, I believe, no different”. I thought this was a great quote describing how teachers should look at their jobs. The goal of a teacher is be effective and to actually teach the children in their classes. This may require many different methods and using technology is a great way to expand on teaching methods.

            The main purpose of the article is to share a few ways that teachers can use technology to engage students and to make learning easier. One of the ways the author says is to use a computer projector. I think this is a great idea because student can learn a tremendous amount from watching videos. Videos are a medium in which students are accustom to viewing and receiving information in a world in which television and YouTube are dominant figures. 

            One of the more predominant questions I would have regarding technology in class rooms is how can teachers that work in less wealthy schools that don’t have a lot of technological resources still make use of technology?  It seems an impossibility that every school is well enough equipped to provide sufficient technology such as computers, computer projectors and the like for every student. This is more of a political issue considering that this would require money. IPS schools don’t have the money that other schools do because most school money comes from local taxes. An estimated 46% of local tax dollars are to go to schools, but because it is poorer urban area the local tax dollars are not there as funds, thus IPS school must dip into state tax dollars and federal taxes. This is why schools like Carmel are able to have state of the art facilities, because their local dollars are more than sufficient and they are able to take from state and federal dollars as well.

            What I found to be the most profound piece of the article was the section when he says “Students can be much more engaged in, and committed to, what they're writing/creating for class if they know the audience is for more than just one person -- the teacher.” I have found this to be true because people want to do better work when they know it is for a purpose and other people will be able to critique it. He suggests that this can be done by using the internet and certain websites to post students material online. I think this is a fantastic idea, because it shows not only will this be read by the teacher but other classmates and people around the world can read the work.

            The second article I will be discussing is The Ideal School Library. This article is fairly short but makes good points about the use of school libraries. The author claims that school libraries should be an open place in which students can interact in ways they typically could not in a traditional classroom. This is the main theme of the article, and it poses the question as to why can students not interact in classrooms? In my high school experience and I feel in most people’s experience students are typically not allowed to communicate while in class. Sometimes students were put into groups, but rarely were class discussions facilitated. I think this is a detrimental practice in schools all over the nation. This article discusses how the library should be the place where students can interact. Also libraries should be equipped technologically to help the students interact efficiently and get school work completed.

            Both of these articles have a couple of major themes, seemingly both of them describe ways in which students and teachers can be liberated by using technology in the classroom. Although some schools are not well equipped, many schools do have the resources for students to use. It is up to the teacher how the students should use those resources and how as a teacher they can positively and effectively use the resources provided. As the quote from the first article personifies, the goal is to be effective in our use of technology and to connect with students to know what it is that would suit them best as a learning tool.

Introduction

Hi! My name is Justin Seymour and thank you for veiwing my blog!  I am an education student at IUPUI, and I am creating this blog to discuss the future of education in America.  The assimilation process in which the American education system has used for the last 60 years is no longer working.  There is something clearly wrong with our system and we are severaly lagging behind in education efficiency as compared to the rest of the world.  I would love to hear everyones ideas as to what we can to make a brighter future in our education system!