Virtual Schools

1. Identify and discuss 5 pros and 5 cons of online virtual schools.

5 Pros:
1. If a teacher has a baby, she will be able to take care of her child without leaving her house!
2. The teacher would have less paper work because it will all be online.
3. If the teacher wanted to travel, they are able to take the computer with them and do work from their vacation destination.
4. Materials are given to the students and teachers!
5. Online schools can allow flexible hours for all parties.

5 Cons-
1. You can never always rely on the Internet. A lot of times, the Internet can freeze or the website won't work which will disable the students learning.
2. There is no face to face communication. This is sometimes a big deal because students learn better by actually talking to the teacher. If the student needs help, it will take a while for the teacher to respond because the teacher and student can have different schedules.
3. There could be a lack of motivation because it is online. I know when I take online classes, I wait until the last minute to do the homework.
4. Students do not get to work with children their own age. Interacting with peers in an important thing for students of young age.
5. Students can be doing more than one thing at a time. The students could be on their AIM, MySpace, Facebook, or e-mail which means they are not giving their full potential to the school work.

2. Discuss how you think virtual schools might impact your future teaching.

Virtual Schools seem like a good and bad idea for me. I love being with my family and if I get married and have children, I will want to be with them a lot! I love to travel and see new places so this would give me the option to travel. It gives me flexible hours and allows me to do my work when I want to without a real deadline. This would be good if I want to teach general education. The bad thing is that I am planning to teach special education. This option would not be available to students with special needs. I would have to have one-on-one interactions with these children. Overall, I do not see myself pursuing this Virtual Schools lifestyle.

Emerging Technologies in the Classroom

Multi-Touch Smart Desks

The Multi-Touch Smart Desk is an interactive desk for students. This desk is basically like a large IPhone. This desk integrates Information Communications technology into the fabric of the classroom. The desks in the classroom are networked and linked to a main smartboard offering new opportunities for teaching and collaboration. This technology allows students to work together at a single desk and enables the students to all engage in the lesson. Students at any age love touching a “smartboard” because it is fun and interactive. The manufacturers wanted to make a “natural way” for students to use computers.

This technology will make students excited to learn. This helps students in many ways. Students learn how to use the existing technology such as a computer. This is crucial because the world is based on technologies such as a computer. This desk helps students to be engaged in the classroom. When a teacher is working on her smartboard, the students don’t get to interact at the same time. With the Smart Desks, the students can engage in the same activities as the teacher and follow the teacher along during the lesson. Students’ minds can wander very easily if they are not engaging in the activity so this technology almost ensures the fact that students will be engaging in the lessons within the classroom.

Teachers can make sure the students have met the objectives by being able to actually look at what the students are doing. The desk is a computer where the students can save their work. The teacher can look at the students work through the main system. Many times when students work on a computer project, there are not enough computers to properly ensure that all the students are interacting with the technology. With the Smart Desk, the teacher can insure that all students can have the chance to work on the computer and complete all their assignments.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=1039
http://www.smartdesks.com/

Google Earth

This technology puts the whole world on a student’s computer. It allows the students to go to any area in the world with just a click of a button. Students can travel from space to a certain street to find geographic information. Google Earth is a search engine that is very entertaining to all individuals, not just students. It is a 3D model of the planet that allows the user to spin the world to where they want to explore and zoom in on certain areas. When the area of choice is zoomed in on, the user can see realistic 3D buildings located in that area as well as houses, lakes, etc. It’s a very interactive technology that makes learning fun.

Students would learn very well from this technology. A teacher can use this technology in almost all classroom subjects. Students can learn about the layers of the Earth to study economics, demographics, and transportation. Teachers can have students use real-time coordinates to demonstrate distance calculations and verify the results using the measurement tools. Students can view tectonic plate-shift evidence by examining whole continents, mountain ranges and volcanic activity. Students can use Google Earth to explore topics like the progress of human civilization, the growth of cities, and the impact of civilization on the natural world.

This technology can really impact the way a student learns. Students can use this technology in Biology by tracking routes of chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe Forest. Students can take quizzes based on Google Earth in Ecology. In Environmental Science students are able to check Alaska’s global warming problems. There are many activities and lessons the teacher can make from this technology. Teachers can have the students do projects based off this fun and interactive technology that will engage students in all kinds of learning.

http://earth.google.com/

Skype

Skype is a software that allows users to talk over the computer. This technology allows people to talk to each other as if they are sitting right next to each other. All you need is a headset, computer, and another user on another computer. Not only can you call someone on another computer, you are able to call someone on their actual phone. This technology allows users to be different characters when communicating with another person. Students can have fun making themselves animals, robots, and even the moon!

This is a fun interactive technology that can be beneficial in the classroom. A teacher can have a guest lecturer talk to the class without actually being there. Students can ask the speaker questions as if the speaker was talking in the front of the room. Students can also interact with students their own age at different schools all over the world. Teachers can have students do projects with other students in different classrooms in a different city, state, or country.

This would be very beneficial to students. This allows students to interact with people of different cultures. Students can open up their minds to different life styles by interacting with students all over the world. It’s important to have students be open-minded in today’s society. This technology can impact the students’ lives more just within the school setting. I believe Skype would be a great way to learn about other people and other cultures, especially for students!

http://www.skype.com/