EDMS 550 - Does Technology Change The Way We Teach?

I believe technology can change the way we teach, but only if the teacher chooses to use technology in the classroom. The technology can exist, but if it is not used how can it change the way someone teaches?

For those teachers who do use technology in the classroom, I think it does change a teacher's strategies and methods. First, a teacher has to determine what s/he wants students to learn and then has to decide how to incorporate technology to help students achieve the desired instructional goal. The teacher also needs to consider the individual needs of each student and determine if the technology being utilized is beneficial in aiding a student's learning. Using technology for the sake of using technology is not effective if it does not meet the educational needs of students.

EDMS 550 - Web 2.0 Technology Presentation Overview

I decided to use Historypin for my Web 2.0 project. On the Historypin website you can upload your own photographs and "pin" them to a specific location on a map. You can even zoom in to the street level on the map. The idea is to compare what the area looks like today with a photograph showing the same area at a different time. For example, you could upload a photograph of you in the house you grew up in and compare it to what the house looks like today.

The website was relatively easy to use. My only complaints are that I had some trouble with loading photographs from the Internet and I had trouble finding the proper street level view on the map that I desired. I tried to show a picture of an historic park in Cincinnati when it was built to what it looks like today and the only street level view available for the address I entered into the map showed the street running alongside the park and not the actual park entrance that I wanted to show.

The few disappointments notwithstanding, I like what the site does and I can envision using this website as an educational tool in the classroom.

EDMS 550 - The Value in Learning from Fiction

Initially, I thought the prompt "Is there value in learning from fiction?" was going to be easy to answer. But the more I think about it, the more reservations I have concerning my my initial answer. The majority of my learning experiences, particularly in elementary school, involved fiction in one way or another. I learned to read by reading fiction. I learned math by solving fictional math problems. So, I guess there is value in learning basic, elementary skills from fiction.

But as I progressed through high school and into college, more and more of my learning was derived from non-fiction sources. A majority of my learning in college involved real-life case studies and examining the business practices of real companies. My intended content area, social studies, is almost entirely based on non-fiction. However, I do see learning possibilities in social studies by having studies consider "what-if" scenarios and having them respond to questions such as, "What if Nazi Germany and the Axis Powers had prevailed in World War II?" So, I guess that I do believe there is value in learning from fiction, but I think the value declines the older and more advanced the student becomes.