Waters, J.K. (2011, April). Teaching Green. THE Journal, 38(4), 13-14.
This article is all about "Teaching Green", which basically means being green about learning about how to be green. Got it? Ever see one of those messages within a signature in an e-mail saying, "Think green, think before your print"? It helps. That's at work, and I'm an adult, so what it on the internet to help children grasp the understanding of "thinking green"? Teaching green, that's how.
Classroom Earth, A Walk in the Woods, EEK, The Ecological Footprint Quiz, Power Up, and the US EPA Teaching Center are just two of many on-line resources that help teachers teach kids how to "be green".
While Classroom Earth sounds interesting and helpful with it's "How to Teach about the Environment" page, what sounds like more fun to me (even as an adult), is A Walk in the Woods. A Walk in the Woods provides a nature experience for children who navigate through this page who may not have the option to actually walk through the woods. I'm talking about those children who live in busy cities who only experience foliage and agriculture through the Gardening Section at Home Deopt. The site can be listened to in both English and Spanish and can be made personal by providing a sort of "scrapbook" of what they encountered during their trip. So cool!
I've heard of The Ecological Footprints Quiz, but never took it. This article prompted me to do so. My Personal Footprint. Now, I'm not that proud of my footprint, but I'm doing better than most in our area. This is a great tool for teachers to use inside the classroom, to get children to realize that they do make a difference when they recycle, eat organically, turn off the electricity when they leave a room, etc. The biggest thing our children, and really our country, needs is for them to be present and aware of how they can effect the world.
Last, but not least, PowerUp is a game that shows children what the furture could be like if pollution overtakes the world. My only concern about this game is exactly that, it's a game. While a child may go to The Ecological Footprints Quiz and then PowerUp immediately after, the effect of the Quiz was just overpowered by how much fun PowerUp is and could be. This isn't a game, this is our world, and while we may be able to enjoy it now, our future generations may actually end up "playing". Dum dum duuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmm!
:)
Questions:
1. What is one way a teacher of yours promoted "Being Green"?
I remember being in 4th grade, I believe, and my teaching talking to us about "Recycle, Reduce, Reuse" and asking us to recycle throughout the year. It's crazy how things become a habit and I wasn't even conscious of the fact that I was recycling that whole year in 4th grade. Children adapt.
2. Do teachers really need to use technology to teach about the eco-system?
Need? No. Should? Yes. Before you know it, children are going to surpass our understanding of technology. If we don't keep up, the children are going to become bored. It's not necessary to use technology, in a sense, but then again it is.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Journal #8-Looking Forward: The Role of Technology in Tomorrow's Schools (NETS-T III)
Niederhauser, Dale. (2010). Looking forward the role of technology in tomorrow. Learning and Leading, 35, 28-29.
http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/digital-edition-december-january-2010.aspx
So, apparently, there is an actual method in which people decide what are the most promising and interesting forms of technology to use in the classroom. This method is called the Delphi method. This method is a series of questionnaires based on the results of the previous questionnaires, and it only stops upon definite concensus. This methos has been known to "predict the future". The "Horizon Report" uses a modified Delphi method which helps them to report on the most promising gadgets to use in higher education.
While many gadgets we use today have more than likely been on the "Horizon Report", the ones that are there at this point in time sounds quite impressive. It is obvious when I say that access to a computer is vital to education, working, and even home environments (pay bills, get directions, input a budget on an Excel sheet, etc.), but think about a time when the computer was just on the "Horizon Report". Can't think of it? Me either. Now, companies are taking the computer a step further. As opposed to humans responding to the computer, prompts, to click here, to click there, certain companies are building upon the idea that computers should respond to humans. Computer/human interaction is on the horizon. The idea that human facial features, change in voice, posture, and even gestures could generate a response from the computer, is not necessarily a new thought, just a new thought for the computer. Think about it, we have this technology for video games, the Wii, Playstation Move, interacting with technology, not just using it. Also, there are already computers out there that will turn on only by voice activation. If your voice does not belong to that computer, it will not turn on, a great security measure in my opinion. This makes me think about times when I've been studying, and I KNOW my face has shown that I do NOT comprehend what I am reading on the screen. To think that a computer may react to that, is mind blowing.
Even geared more toward education, Microsoft is developing something called Surface. Surface, I envision, is something like you see in movies, with super heroes who design their cars/suits/homes using something like this. Surface is a touchscreen tabletop device used to share ideas on the same workspace. Now, instead of teachers calling someone to the blackboard or whiteboard, this may be viewed as a more interesting and fun way to interact in the classroom. Kids may actually want to step up to the Surface!
It sounds as if the world is getting ready to integrate computers from being a technological assisting device, to something that is more natural and fluid, just another part of our culture.
Questions:
1. Other than the computer, what are a few tehcnological items you think are beneficial in the classroom?
I would LOVE to get my hands on an iPad. Going into Speech Therapy, I am determined to get access to and use several iPads in my classroom.
2. What is another every day item that has been turned into a source of technology?
First it was paper and a pen into a computer, then it was music into an MP3 player (iPod), then it was books. My favorite are the books though. I have a Nook and am in love.
http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/digital-edition-december-january-2010.aspx
So, apparently, there is an actual method in which people decide what are the most promising and interesting forms of technology to use in the classroom. This method is called the Delphi method. This method is a series of questionnaires based on the results of the previous questionnaires, and it only stops upon definite concensus. This methos has been known to "predict the future". The "Horizon Report" uses a modified Delphi method which helps them to report on the most promising gadgets to use in higher education.
While many gadgets we use today have more than likely been on the "Horizon Report", the ones that are there at this point in time sounds quite impressive. It is obvious when I say that access to a computer is vital to education, working, and even home environments (pay bills, get directions, input a budget on an Excel sheet, etc.), but think about a time when the computer was just on the "Horizon Report". Can't think of it? Me either. Now, companies are taking the computer a step further. As opposed to humans responding to the computer, prompts, to click here, to click there, certain companies are building upon the idea that computers should respond to humans. Computer/human interaction is on the horizon. The idea that human facial features, change in voice, posture, and even gestures could generate a response from the computer, is not necessarily a new thought, just a new thought for the computer. Think about it, we have this technology for video games, the Wii, Playstation Move, interacting with technology, not just using it. Also, there are already computers out there that will turn on only by voice activation. If your voice does not belong to that computer, it will not turn on, a great security measure in my opinion. This makes me think about times when I've been studying, and I KNOW my face has shown that I do NOT comprehend what I am reading on the screen. To think that a computer may react to that, is mind blowing.
Even geared more toward education, Microsoft is developing something called Surface. Surface, I envision, is something like you see in movies, with super heroes who design their cars/suits/homes using something like this. Surface is a touchscreen tabletop device used to share ideas on the same workspace. Now, instead of teachers calling someone to the blackboard or whiteboard, this may be viewed as a more interesting and fun way to interact in the classroom. Kids may actually want to step up to the Surface!
It sounds as if the world is getting ready to integrate computers from being a technological assisting device, to something that is more natural and fluid, just another part of our culture.
Questions:
1. Other than the computer, what are a few tehcnological items you think are beneficial in the classroom?
I would LOVE to get my hands on an iPad. Going into Speech Therapy, I am determined to get access to and use several iPads in my classroom.
2. What is another every day item that has been turned into a source of technology?
First it was paper and a pen into a computer, then it was music into an MP3 player (iPod), then it was books. My favorite are the books though. I have a Nook and am in love.
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