Course Reflection

In today’s educational world, there are many forms of technology that teachers can use to enhance their classroom and engage the students in learning. In this course, we studied several different ways that the internet can be incorporated into the classroom. We also discussed how we, as educators can use the internet to help further our careers, (whether young or veteran educators).
I really enjoyed this course. I thought that it was very well put together and the material is very useful as an educator. Each project that we had to construct I felt was relevant and many of which I either used in student teaching, or have an idea on how to implement these techniques into my teaching in the future. During my student teaching I put together a web quest for my students as an ongoing project for my unit I taught on Ancient Egypt. I feel that the webliography was great because not only dos it help the person that created the webliography find good, educational websites on the internet but the others in the class can download the other webliography files, increases their resources and knowledge of educational websites.
I enjoyed the web quest project because it helps me learn about other web sites that are out on the internet that can be useful in the classroom and that my students will enjoy when they are assigned the web quest. I believe that web quests are a great learning tool because they engage the students in a different was then regular assignments of the teacher simply lecturing to the class. They can also be developed for almost any unit in school, which makes them extremely versatile.
The social bookmarking project I thought was a great exercise and like many of my classmates it seems, I am still using it and always adding links to my list. It is a great resource in case I am ever in a classroom and cannot use my laptop with the district’s technology. Also, if I am ever away on a trip and find something without my computer, I can save it and then share my list with other educators as well.
I have always enjoyed online learning classes due to the freedom and mobility of the class. As a student, I can work on an assignment and either complete it or save it and come back to it later, whenever I have a free minute. This I feel helps maximize my time as a student because there is no structured class time to meet at and hand in assignments. I can also work on assignments when I choose to and not have to worry if the library is open or if my professor has office hours. Taking an online course you are always in contact with the others in the class due to the discussions and email.
I enjoyed learning at my own pace with this course and having to option to work on my own or with a group on a few assignments. Centering the learning on the student and giving them choices makes the class more enjoyable for them they will be eager to learn. This is true no matter the level you teach at I feel. The content of the course I felt was very relevant and useful to have as an educator. Each project can and are implemented in the field today and being a substitute teacher, I have seen some great results out of the students that develop these projects.
Being the second EDU 505 I have taken I was happy to see that one of my suggestions, a place to share our work was implemented into the course. I feel that this is a great way for educators to share their work and ideas with each other because when you are in the field, you need to collaborate with your colleagues and share ideas to further yourself and your classroom.
Overall I thought that the course was put together really well and I would (and have) recommended this course to anyone that asked about it. I would actually like to see a form of this course worked into the undergraduate curriculum because with the evolving technology and teachers using the internet more in their classroom, this is an important topic to cover. I thought that you, Dr. Yang were an excellent teacher during the course and were very easy to get a hold of and talk to. I will be taking your EDU 506 course this spring as a required course for my program.

webliography

This webliography focuses on resources for the elementary student to use as well as the elementary teacher to incorporate into their lessons as well as use as reinforcement of learned material. These resources can be used at various grades unless otherwise specified,

1. BrainPOP- Animated Educational Site for Kids- Science Social Studies, English, Math, Arts & Music, Health and Technology

http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/

Summary – The website is comprised of many videos that have friendly characters in them. The website was developed to help describe difficult concepts to students and fits all state standards.

Commentary – Although this is a social studies webliography, I feel that this site is a great one for any teacher to have at their disposal. The videos are great, informative and are not very long at all. For this reason, they can be used to re-enforce material and incorporated into a teacher’s lesson to help students that learn differently. There is also a BrainPOP Jr. section for younger learners.

Suggested Grade: All levels BrainPOP Jr. K-3

2. Congress For Kids-Interactive Fun-filled Experiences About the federal Government

http://www.congressforkids.net/

Summary- This website has a lot of great information about our federal government. It is broken down into many different sections of the federal government and is very easy to navigate.

Commentary- This website is a great one to have I feel for either the teacher that is just teaching about the Constitution on Constitution Day or a teacher teaching an entire unit about the American Government. It’s a good website for students to reference for re-enforcement or a teacher to incorporate into their lessons as well. There are also quizzes that either the teacher can use to assess the student’s knowledge or students can use to assess their own learning.

Suggested Grade: All Levels: Focus on Fifth Grade

3. Colonial Kids- A Celebration of Life in the 1700’s

http://library.thinkquest.org/J002611F/index.htm

Summary- This website has a lot of information about life in the colonies in the 1700’s. The site was constructed by forth graders and for that reason it is very student friendly.

Commentary- When studying the culture of the American Colonies this website is great to use in the classroom. The website has a lot of fun interactive activities for the students to learn about the culture of the colonies. The website goes into detail the different aspects of the culture of colonial life, which is important for students to learn in school during their unit.

Suggested Grade: Forth or Fifth Grade

4. Go West Across America With Lewis and Clark Game

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/west/main.html

Summary- This website is a fun interactive game that allows the students make decisions to assist Lewis and Clark in exploring the western frontier of America.

Commentary- This website is really good for students o use in the classroom because on top of the students learning good information about Lewis and Clark, but they also work on decision making skills during the game. There is also a link where more information about Lewis and Clark and some links are listed for the students and teacher to use.

Suggested Grade: Third, Fourth or Fifth Grade

5. Abraham Lincoln For Primary Children

http://www.siec.k12.in.us/~west/proj/lincoln/treasure1.htm

Summary- This website sends students on a fun treasure hunt of fun facts about Abraham Lincoln. There is a list of eight questions and the students need to find the answers on the adjacent webpage.

Commentary- This website has a lot of great information for the students to look at and learn about Abraham Lincoln. The students will need to read the material while they search for the answers to the questions. Teachers can use this website as either a cooperative activity or an extra credit assignment to re-enforce the material taught in the classroom.

Suggested Grade: Third Grade

6. Breaking Down the Walls-Differences are GOOD

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0212302/index.html

Summary- The website consists of many activities, polls and has a lot of great information to help students understand that differences are okay.

Commentary- This website allows students to learn about being a student in many different countries. It has a lot of really great information which can be used to help promote acceptance and friendship among different races. This is a definite for any teacher or class that may be having problems of this nature within it or to teach about difference and that they are okay.

Suggested Grade: All levels

7. Ancient Egypt For Kids

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/Homework/Egypt.html

Summary- This website is the “Most visited educational website visited in all of England” according to ‘The Times Educational Supplement’. There is a lot of information about various areas of Egypt that are broken down into different areas.

Commentary- This website is put together quite well. The information is clear and easy to follow. There is an interactive part to the website for students and the pictures help the students in understanding the material as well. A good website for the teacher that is teaching Ancient Egypt in their room.

Suggested Grade: Sixth Grade

8. Facts For Kids: Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Indians

http://www.bigorrin.org/iroquois_kids.htm

Summary- This website has a lot of good facts about the Haudenosaunee people and is easy for elementary students to follow and understand.

Commentary- The website goes into detail about many aspects of Haudenosaunee life. There are many links for the students to click on if they want to investigate something further and in more detail. The website also recommends good books about the Haudenosaunee to read and use in the classroom.

Suggested Grade: Forth Grade

9. White House 101: Facts and Fun For All Ages

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/white-house-101/

Summary- This website is very thorough and gives a lot of information to students about our Presidents, the white House itself and even the presidential family pets.

Commentary- This site contains virtual tour for students to view the different rooms of the White House. Current residents host these tours. The site is kept up to date and has many fun facts about the different Presidents. The virtual tour is a great idea for a virtual field trip to the White House

Suggested Grade: All Levels

10. Social Studies For Kids

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/

Summary-This website is full of different units and current events for both students and teachers to use.

Commentary- The site has many different areas and types of information for students to access. These range from text, to maps and there are even some neat games on the website as well. The website can be a great resource tool to use alongside any unit at any grade level.

Suggested Grade: All Levels