There were so many interesting topics and I must say that I learned a vast amount of knowlegde from reading all of this insightful research concerning using technology mindtools in the classroom. I especially liked Josh and Matt's individual papers and decided to peer review them and leave helpful tips to revise their final papers. Josh's paper looked at the benefits of incorporating video games in the classroom as mindtools to engage young learners and break away from the traditional paradigm that insists video games are merely tools for recreational use. Mike discussed the use of spreadsheets as mindtools that engage conceptual change and allow learners construct visual images of quantitative concepts. Spreadsheets allow young adolescents to engage in causal reasoning and develop rules that relate to specific formulas after data analysis has been performed. This active construction of knowledge will allow students to develop confidence in their problem-solving abilities and develop competency in different mathematics concept.
Kathryn's paper discussed the use of digital concept maps in the classroom, especially in the realm of science in order to help students connect complex information. She talked about having students create maps collaboratively, and I think that this would allow a group of students to build an extensive map based on each of their individual prior knowledge. Over a long temporal scale this would allow students to learn scientific topics and watch how each component builds on the other. Concept maps can help student organize information, and then put that information in a graphic visual organizer that will help them retain the information over time. Priscilla had a unique topic of research and it concerned connecting music and hypermedia to enhance reading. I thought it was an interesting fact that musical development was the first actual intelligence to emerge in young learners. It makes sense when you think about how inclined young children are to sing and dance. I had no idea that there was so much research going on regarding Electronic Talking Books and their use as hypermedia tools that are beneficial to enhance the literacy skills of early readers. I learned to read with a tool called the Magic Wand Reader by Texas Instruments and the technology enthralled me when I was a little girl. I remember you swiped the reader across code and it read you the story with minimal sound effects. I can only imagine how I would have reacted to learning to read if the technology that is inherent in the ETB's was available using hypermedia and music technology mindtools. Your research was innovative and I enjoyed learning about the studies that are taking place to link music and hypermedia to engage young readers and promote literacy at an early age.
Elaine's research paper advocated the use of database management tools in classrooms that allow student's to store information of importance and then conduct complex queries that they construct to answer questions of importance to a specific subject content. She tells us how one might go about teaching the construction and use of database management systems to students in lower grades. This can be a complex mindtool that has great technologic capabilities, which allow the user to learn how to exercise control over their thought processes and develop metacognition that will enhance the way they approach more complex material in the future. I really enjoyed Melissa's paper, I has no idea Wikipedia was a mindtool called a wiki. I always saw where people could add knowledge, but I did not know individual people are perhaps experts in certain fields took the time to write what is in essence an online encyclopedia. Wiki's to teach literature would be an engaging mindtool and sounds much better than a regular discussion board if you can add all the additional media to enhance the particular piece being studied. I think this is an extraordinary mindtool for bringing multiple dimensions of interactivity among students with regard to reading ore creating literature. It makes regular message boards seem mundane and out of date, and when you add the collaborative capabilities to the equation the implications are astounding. What a great paper and the research and amount of effort that was put into creating it really shows.
Matt wrote a paper regarding digital storytelling in the classroom, which discussed the topic of engaging students to create composition through digital means to create a narrative that makes the task of writing seem less daunting. I learned that digital storytelling is a way for students to create projects that convey a great personal meaning for them and often can depict the story in a way that is more exciting or informative then just regular text writing. Students are often more apt to want to share their creation's with others, because they want to share the information they have just learned. While performing research to create their story, learners will assemble pertinent information that they will later be able to recall more easily because they were involved in the active process of creation. I will make a note to keep the processes and lists that were supplied in the paper in order to remember how to make the most out of this in my classroom. This is a really neat mindtool with implications that are useful across all content disciplines, and I definitely plan to use it in my science classroom. In closure, great research performed by the entire class and kudos goes to everyone for a job well done. So insightful!
No comments:
Post a Comment