February 21, 2010

Dr. Alice Christie's Site on Google Earth

Dr. Christie's site includes a detailed section on Google Earth! She explains how to use Google Earth, how much it cost, how it can be used in a classroom, and much more. I focused on how I can use Google Earth in my future classroom.

I love to use Google Earth! My boyfriend uses it at his job at a utility company, and he introduced it to me! I love to travel, but I never have the money to go see the places I want to see, so I use Google Earth for virtual traveling! Dr. Christie's information helped me figure out how I can take my students around the world in the classroom for free! Not only can it let people see what the world around them looks like, but it also "enhances map reading and navigational skills." I believe that Google Earth does "engage and excite learner," and I cannot wait to have a classroom where we can travel the world using the fabulous technology Google Earth!


iTunes University

iTunes U can be both useful for me now as a student and later when I am a teacher. If my professors choose to use this device to our benefit then we will be able to listen to different podcasts on topics for our classes. According to CNN.com, "hundreds of universities, and a growing number of business schools, are making recordings of lectures, seminars and conferences available to the general public via Web sites such as iTunes." So, if students have questions, missed class, or just need to review something before a test iTunes U is a fabulous resource! Apple says that there are over 600 universities that have implemented iTunes U as a resource for their school.

For teachers, it gives an easy way to upload lectures, videos, and class material that is accessible to their students. Since, iTunes is free download this makes it easy for students to get to. If a professor has to teach the same class year after year, instead of answering thousands of the same questions every year they can create something that incorporates the FAQs.


iPods in Instruction


I remember in school the only thing I used my iPod for was an ability to drown out my teachers lecture, not to listen to my teachers lectures! Today, that is exactly what is going on! You can download podcasts through iTunes and put them directly onto your iPod. By doing some research, I found that students can study using their iPods, such as flash cards, according to Robert Craven. He also said in his interview, that "students, who use iPods to count calories, to record themselves reading, to make podcasts—even to get to the moon."
Duke University gave "each of its 1,650 incoming freshmen a free iPod this fall as part of an initiative to foster innovative uses of technology in the classroom" in 2004. The iPods were given to the students with orientation information on them, the academic calendar, and the school fight song! This is an exciting move toward the acceptance of technology. So yay for Duke, but let's see if we can get other universities to jump on board! 





Wiki hosted by Dr. John Starnge: Who is a techonolgically literate teacher?
 This wiki confirmed what I have felt all along. To be technologically literate means to embrace change! Hug it, hold it, and call it family. To feel comfortable outside of your comfort zone is also important. Dare yourself to not "break it," or make you feel inadequate. Being technologically literate means you should know what a blog is and if not write on one of your own visit several each week. This wiki by Dr. Strange is very interesting, and should be viewed by every future educator, present educator, and those who want to learn how to become technologically litereate! Thanks Dr. Strange for starting and maintaining this wiki!