Week+Two

__** This week we had a really exciting class with Richard Grignon! **__ __**Here is what we did:**__ (Image Source: http://comets.wisc.edu/clickers/eInstruction/index.html)
 * 1) Student Response Systems (SRS's)

These are some great little devices that can be used in the classroom. The SRS system allows students to submit responses to questions in their classroom. Each student is given a clicker, pictured above, which records student responses and sends them to the teacher's computer using a radio frequency. I have used these as a student in a couple of my undergraduate course at the University of Ottawa and I would find them to be very useful as a teacher. The clickers allow teachers to retrieve a response from all students in the classroom and view the results immediately. This will reduce the amount of time spent in class counting hands or tallying ballots. The SRS's are also useful to allow all students the chance to participate in class.

2. Google Applications (Image Source: www.google.ca)

I am a HUGE fan of Google Apps. I have been using them for the past couple of months for group projects and they have been a huge asset! I was excited to realize the potential for using these programs for the classroom. One of the major benefits is that everything get saved in "the cloud". On my practicum I had some students who claimed to have had broken printers and they sent their project to themselves in an e-mail, but when they got to school to print it the file was gone. By having students set up Google accounts, not only will files not disappear, by the teacher can check the activity log for proof. In addition, I had never worked with the Google Forms section, so I found the assignment of making a survey a great test drive of the portion of the site. Below is the link to the survey I created.

[]

3. This weeks reading: Understanding Digital Kids II

The article points out a lot of important concepts for the beginning teacher and experienced teachers alike. I was particularly interested in the pyramid which pointed out the how much of a topic is remembered based on the way the information is learned. As student teachers, we hear over and over that we need to motivate the students and make sure they are engaged. The article points out that the use of technology would play a crucial role in this. My concern is with the lack of resources in the schools. It would be great to get the students to use technology to make a video, a podcast, or a blog, but in many cases it is just not practical to do so with the school. It will be interesting to see how this is dealt with in the coming years.