Bookmark/Favorite Serivces

I really cannot imagine using the internet for school work or for personal enjoyment without also using bookmark/favorite services. Bookmarking a site or setting it as your "favorite" means essentially saving the link to it onto a tab in your web browser so that it can be accessed later on. This tool is very useful for doing research projects where multiple websites need to be accessed multiple times. Instead of writing down each individual link and retyping it every time you wish to visit it, a simple click of the mouse will take you to the desired website. This feature also comes in handy when simply surfing the web for sites that look interesting. When you find a website that you would like to further look into but at a later time, bookmarking it can be a very convenient way to save the website, continue surfing the web, and return to it when you want to. One can also bookmark a site that they visit often, so as to avoid having to retype the website each time. Whether if be for work or for pleasure, Bookmark/Favorite Services make navigating the internet very fast and convenient.

PDA's- Personal Digital Assistants

I recently found an article that discussed the benefits and new found popularity of using Personal Digital Assistants (PDA's) in the classroom. PDA's, which range in price from $100-$500 are starting to be integrated into college classrooms across the country. Some of the main features of PDA's are that they can be used for storing phone numbers and addresses, checking email, keeping schedules, and playing games. Now, PDA's are becoming more and more useful for classroom use because of their new, expansive features. New technological features such as miniature keyboards can turn your PDA into a miniature word processor. Other features include wireless modems that can connect you to most college networks, and infrared ports that allow for shared data from one PDA to another. Use of PDA's on medical school campuses is much more widespread than regular college campuses due to the incredible availability of medical software. However, many major univerisities have started to use PDA's in their classrooms and I think that the trend is just beginning.
http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i07/07a03301.htm

Using Digital Images and Video in the Classroom

What kid doesn't love to watch movies or look at pictures? I know that when I was younger, I used to love when my teacher would use videos or pictures to teach a lesson because visual aids always helped me gain a deeper understanding of the material. Integrating video projects into classroom content keeps student engaged and interested in what is being taught. This process has become easier with the increased availability of low cost video cameras, video editing software tools, and digital cameras. Visual aids do not only need to be used to teach lessons, they can also be used as projects for student assessment. I found one website <http://www.teachingk-8.com/archives/how_to/how_touse_digital_images_and_video.html> that mentioned certain examples of projects for students to complete and listed some different websites for even more options. These projects emphasize the importance of group work in the classroom in addition to individual work. The student must fulfill his or her task while still working with others to collaborate the final project. Although there are a lot of really good aspects of assigning digital projects to students, there are also some negative aspects of it. Some of the negative aspects are that each assignment takes a lot of time to create and that there is always the possibility of having the equipment or technology break down before the project is completed. Despite these problems, I think that integrating video and other visual aids into the classroom can teach students in a more interesting and entertaining way.

Educational Websites for Teachers

When I was in High School, my English teachers made good use of a website called "turnitin.com." This website is designed so that teachers can catch students who are attempting to plagerize essays or other pieces of writing and discourage other students from doing so. Whenever I wrote an essay, I had to submit it on "turnitin.com" and print out a receipt to show that I had done so before I could actually hand the essay in to my teacher. When I "turned in" my essay, I essentially gave the website the right to search through my essay and compare every word of it to any online source or other student's work that had already been "turned in." If the website detected that any part of my essay was not my original work and no source was cited, that portion of the essay would be flagged so that the teacher would know that I had plagerized either another person or an online source. Although I never plagerized my essays, I do know some people that did and this website was a great way for teachers to find out exactly who those students were and give them a fair punishment. Use of this website enables teachers to easily see which students are producing honest work and which are not. I think that this website is a great tool to use in the classroom because it forces students to think for themselves and produce their own work instead of merely copying from someone else.

SMART Boards

The SMART Board is the world's leading interactive whiteboard and is a great educational technology tool to use in the classroom. The technology used in SMART Boards, allows for the board to be connected to the instructor's computer. This means that a teacher can control what is put on the whiteboard right from his or her own computer. Essentially, the SMART Board is a combination of a whiteboard, computer, television, and overhead projector. Having been in classrooms where SMART Boards are used, I have seen the great effects that they can have on classroom learning. The use of this educational technology tool allows for students to participate more in class and for teachers to access electronic material, present it, and add their own comments and features to enhance a lesson. I have seen SMART Boards frequently used in Math and Science classrooms and they have had significant benefits. On an average whiteboard, the teacher can write down a part of a lesson or sample problems, but is forced to erase them once the board has no more space left to write on. With SMART Boards, not only can the teacher continue a lesson by simply scrolling down on the page to find an infinite amount of usable space, but he or she can also save those pages for future reference and access various other visual images and tools from websites or other technological programs. A weakness of the SMART Board would be that since it is a piece of technology, it is not indestructible. Some teachers may not like to rely on a piece of technology in their classroom, because it is very possible that it could break or be damaged in some way, which could hinder classroom learning. However, the SMART Board is long lasting and has been shown to increase students' alertness and retention of classroom material. The SMART Board is a great technological tool that could be very useful and beneficial in any classroom.