Digital Blog Post #F

Chapters six and twelve in the Transforming Learning with New Technologies textbook were rather interesting. Chapter six was about Fostering Online Learning with Educational Websites and Apps, and Chapter twelve was about Integrating Technology and Creating Change as Teacher Leaders. Three things that I really enjoyed learning about in these chapters are, Taking Virtual Field Trips, Types of Educational Websites, and One-to-One Laptop Computing.

To begin with, Taking Virtual Field Trips, seriously how fun does that sound? I never knew that this was available online until reading this chapter, and I was extremely impressed. This is such an amazing idea when teaching about something that is on the other side of the world, or somewhere you cannot visit in person, this allows you to take your children "there". The book suggests using Scholastic, Google Earth, and also tells you that many museums, science centers, and historic places around the world have created virtual field trips and online tours on their sites. I did some research to see if I could find any actual sites that fellow teachers or aspiring teachers could use, and I struck gold! This site provides ten different sites for teachers to use, all of which are very cool. I truly believe that these would be great things to include in a lesson plan, because letting the children experience these new and beautiful places, can inspire them to travel, or to aspire to do something big in their lives. As teachers that should be our ultimate goal, to inspire our students for their futures.

Another section that I really enjoyed in the book was Educational Websites, this section provides a multitude of sites for teachers to use in the classroom. I love how this book maps things out for teachers, and includes so many resources for you to go off of. I learned that there are six different types of educational websites for teachers and students. These six include:

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Lastly, there is a section in Chapter 12 that I knew about and really think is an amazing idea but also believe it can bring up some issues, One-to-One Laptop Computing. This program basically means that each student has their own individual computing device to use in school. I think that this is a really great idea, each student has their personal computer that they can keep all their things on. I believe this will help with students losing their homework, and keeping them on track with schoolwork. This also gives teachers the chance to regularly check their laptops to be sure the students are doing their work. I do believe that this can bring problems as well though, due to personal experience. My general manager at my job has a granddaughter and she lives with him, she goes to middle school here, and her school has these laptops. Specifically, they use the chrome books. She had an issue with a  few girls in her class, and they were bullying her, they got access to her computer and wrote very inappropriate things on her work. This clearly is not acceptable, so if I were to use these in my classroom, I would really crackdown on being sure that only the student has access to their device.

I included a video here that discusses some things to consider when implementing one-to-one computing into lesson plans.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this chapters and learned many new things, and found so many amazing sites to help in my future in teaching!

Resources:
Maloy, R. W., Verock-O'Loughlin, R.-E., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Richard Smith. (2013, June 7). Implementing K-12 One-to-One Computing - Technology and Education Today. Retrieved 2016, April 24, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55TytMS7-3Y.