We're going on a picture hunt!

Last week, I ventured on a Picture Scavenger Hunt with 2 of my classmates. Our goal was to find pictures that represented "opposites." On our journey around campus, we found many opposite objects and had a lot of fun! We had to be creative, but with 3 UDL minds (we are all special education majors), we got the job done in no time. We utilized Hannah's iPhone to take pictures. I was hesitant about the quality of these pictures at first, but it ended up working really well. In fact, I think having an iPhone worked better for this project because we did not have to worry about resizing the pictures once they were downloaded on to our desktop.

I think this type of Scavenger Hunt activity would be so fun to do with students! You could divide students up in groups, have them collect pictures using an array of topics, and then have them incorporate their pictures into a PowerPoint presentation. More advanced students could supplement their pictures with information that they had researched. Specifically, this activity could be very useful for an elementary or middle school science classroom when students are studying leaves, trees, flowers, or other aspects of nature that could be easily captured with a camera.

Next time I do this activity, I would love to have my own iPhone to be able to take such great pictures :) I was worried about the resolution of the pictures, but I was surprised at the quality of them in the presentation. If possible, I would make sure that each group member had a camera so that they could capture their own pictures as well.

Slideshow

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Get your own

Here is a Slideshow made on Picasa showing the pictures that my group took during our Scavenger Hunt. This would be another great way for students to organize their photos during a technology-based activity!

Inquiry Based Activity- The Exploration of the Heart

Of all our activities thus far in TPTE, I really can see myself using this IBA (Inquiry Based Activity).  It was very good practice for me to design a lesson based on National Education Standards, and I was very impressed with how well the activity went.  After looking at the high school Anatomy and Physiology standards, it was not difficult for me to decide on a topic and find websites that creatively and resourcefully provided students with ways to learn the information.  I decided to create a worksheet based on the chambers and blood flow of the heart.  I can see myself using this worksheet if I were ever asked to teach an Anatomy class. There are so many structures and functions to be memorized and understood that it would be very important as an Anatomy teacher to utilize many different technological tools.  This activity shows that there are even creative ways to design technology based worksheets.  Next time, I would definitely utilize classroom textbooks again. It was so beneficial for me to view structures and information pertaining to the heart based on what students would be reading and learning from the text. Plus, it helped to refresh my memory as well. :)

Websites used in this IBA activity:
http://texasheart.org/HIC/Anatomy/Anatomy.cfm
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/health-and-human-body/human-body/heart-article/

Check In

In TPTE class thus far, I am learning more about technology than I would have expected! In the first few weeks of class I thought that at the speed we are going we will run out of things to talk about. Now, I am beginning to think that not even a semester is long enough to review all the tools on the web. I am thoroughly enjoying the class and am excited about the new things I will learn in the future. I just hope I can remember it all!

Quest of Webs

This past week, we did an activity on WebQuests! I had never heard of a WebQuest before, but I really enjoyed critiquing a few examples with other students in my class.  As we reviewed various sites, I noticed a couple things that set WebQuests apart from each other.  First, is organization of the site.  WebQuests are so useful because they provide all the directions, links, and tools that one needs to research a topic and accomplish an activity . However, if the objectives and instructions of the activity are disorganized, this process becomes much more difficult.  The layout of the site is very important as well.  Even simple things like colors and pictures when you first visit a site are so influential in your perceptions of it.

I could definitely see myself using WebQuests in a Science Classroom.  There are many biological concepts that relate to issues going on in the world today such as genetic engineering, gene cloning, etc. A WebQuest would help students become familiar with topics like these while learning about the biological processes behind them and then formulating their own opinion about them.  Similarly, WebQuests would help organize group activities and discussion with other students that would aid in their understanding.  By creating my own WebQuest or utilizing one from the internet, there are many ways that this web 2.0 tool could be used in the classroom.

The next time I am searching for a specific WebQuest to use in an activity, I will be aware of sites like QuestGarden where they are organized into various subject areas.  I will know how to critique a specific WebQuest through the site evaluation that we completed in my TPTE class. I will know that it is important for there to be an author, reliable contact information, and consistent revisions made to the site. 

Website Evaluating

This past week I evaluated a site called Cells Alive which has multiple demonstrations, animations, and models representing various cellular structures and processes.  A few of my favorite interactive tools are the model of the prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell as well as the demonstration of mitosis and meiosis. I appreciate that you can watch the process as a whole or focus in on one particular step.  I can really see myself utilizing a site such as Cells Alive in the classroom.  It is so important for students to study the particular parts, steps, and functions of cellular processes through scientific resources such as textbooks, articles, and lectures.  However, allowing students to visually see these processes often helps incorporate all that information.

This activity taught me various practical ways to evaluate a website that can be used in the classroom.  I learned that it is important for there to be contact information on the site as well as an author.  Having the credentials of the author posted helps the reader to know that the information on the site is reliable.  Also, as technology is always changing, it is important that the site is consistently under revision so that information is portrayed in a current and applicable way.  Finally, I learned that the most successful sites are those that are user-friendly to various age levels.  I appreciate that the Cells Alive is not difficult to navigate with clearly identified links and headings on the side of the page. 

Overall, this activity was very beneficial for me as a future educator. In the "Internet Age" that we live in where information can be so instantly accessed, I must be able to decipher between valuable and invaluable sources.  This activity provided me with questions to ask concerning various websites which will be beneficial as I conduct my own online research and as I teach my students how to conduct theirs. 

Picky Wiki

This week, we created our first Wiki! I had never used a Wiki before, but I am continually amazed by the various tools that can be utilized on the internet.  There are many benefits of a Wiki which include creating a glossary, working on group projects, composing a study guide, peer editing, making a calendar, and organizing data.  I really enjoyed the All About Me Wiki through PBworks because it is an organized way to read information about the other students in class.  This would be a great way for students to introduce themselves in a class setting. You could also have students post on their Wiki page but present another student's Wiki so that they would become more familiar with the students in the class.

While there are many benefits to using Wikis, I do think that the site could be more user friendly.  It was more difficult for me to figure out how to set up my page initially than it was to use sites like GoogleDocs.  There are many tools that I do not think I would know how to use if my professor did not show us in class.  I enjoyed the KWLS chart because it allowed me to really process what I had learned about the activity and what I still had questions about.  The YouTube video that we watched called "Wikis in Plain English" was a great, concise summary of why Wikis are useful.

If I were to utilize a Wiki again in my classroom, I think I would create a glossary page and have students post various new vocabulary that they learned. For example, after a lesson on the parts of the cell, students could individually post the name of the organelle and its structure and function.  If a student sees that someone wrote something incorrect or lacks information, they can fix it for them.  Overall, I think Wikis can be very useful in the classroom, and I am looking forward to gaining more experience to boost my confidence with using them.