Video Games

Video games are very useful in the age of technology to inspire critical thinking and to make learning less of a detested task for the students.  Technology has the advantage of taking education to a new frontier.   Video games are just one of many ways for the students to become engaged in the lessons in the classroom.  Video games add a level of fun to an education and allow the student to learn without the traditional structure of the old classroom.  The video game industry, universities and organizations have done a lot of work in the area of educational video games for all levels of education and all subjects.  The video game will aid in the transformation of the classroom of today into the learning room of tomorrow.  Students will face much more complex questions than they ever had in most traditional classrooms because technology holds more knowledge than any one teacher could ever hold.  

Educational Video

This video was very educational. I had shot quite a bit of extra video to replace some of the monologue. Iwas unable to use the video due to a puppy I have eating about $70 worth of cables to my computer, including the one that went to my camera. I see this a a useful tool in diversifying lecture with something that can not only be entertaining, but educational also. The creativity of the class was amazing. I have to say that there were some very interesting concepts of educational videos in the presentations. This can be a time consuming endeavor, but in the long run I believe that with creativity there will be aspects of subjects that get left behind in a regular lecture. Having a video posting also allows a student to go back and pick up crucial points that may have been lost in a presentation. Making videos also allows an instructor to add visual element that would enhance a presentation. The visuals may not be presentable in a regular presentation without time lapse from connecting to the link and slow connections. There are many inexpensive resources to shoot and edit video that it would be a loss to the educational environment not to use video enhancement in class.

Q&A With LCPS Superintendent Stan Rounds

Go Animate

GoAnimate.com: In the classroom by bshanaha

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun! Go Animate is not only a fun, but useful tool. The animations can be used in many ways, they can either stand alone, or be used in a regular video by downloading the animation and using the clip to add to a video production for a class. The animations are simple enough for even the younger student to be able to enjoy. It is unfortunate that it has a price for most of the options. Costs are what many teachers look at, as most of these costs cut out of their personal revenues. Of several animation programs I have tried, on line, this is one of the simplest. Having simple programs is important to entice novice computer users to use a program. The more complex a program is the less likely the novice will use them in their projects or classes. I have seen other educational videos made in similar programs, though I have not had a chance to find out the features of the other programs to compare them with the options of Go Animate. Go Animate could be a very fun way for teachers and student to enhance web based projects, and should not be overlooked as a possibility when a lesson plan is laid out for a certain subject.

Solomon Ch. 10

Power Point Link 
      must download due to size

Voki

Voki is a simple animatied avatar that could be very useful for teachers and student. I ws thinking that this might be a very creative enhancement for any blog or webquest. Voki is a very simple program that could be used for providing instructions for a given project or to Since most of the options of Voki are free many teachers would probably have an interest in using it somehow in their curriculum Since Voki is simple and has many options in the free mode students would probably find it entertaining enough to utilize it in their projects. The diverse applications of Voki could only be imagThis is very usefule when creativity should ined by the creativity of the user. Voki also has lesson plans that teachers can use to provide enhancement for their classes. A Voki is easily place in a blog or an e=mail and can be useful in getting attention simply by having an animation talking directly to the student. Dialogue has several options as to how it is uploaded in a Voki, it cam be either record end from the user or typed into a dialogue box.

Prensky Assessment

Villain vs. Hero Ning Profile

ning-link

Some ways of using social networking.

     Social networking is becoming an important part of education and can be vast in its use.  Social networking allows students and educators the ability to stay in touch and expand learning possibilities.  Social networking can allow students to work in conjunction with other students in a given class, school, region or even multinational projects.  It allows facilitators the ability to monitor the progress and achievements of the students as they work on projects and gives them flexibility in the curriculum.  Social networking also allows schools and facilitators exchange ideas and give updates on innovative ideas on uses of technology in the classroom.  Social networking has opened a whole new aspect of using technology in the classroom.  Innovations such as Skype have also allowed individuals and classes to do live interaction with other individuals and classes in real time.  This is a powerful and important tool in allowing co-educational experiences between different classes or individuals in different geographical regions.  Social networking allows the students to get out of a classroom and explore the world from their computers.

Deep Thoughts

Mehmet and Brian: What is Culture

Google Docs Link 

Google Docs is a very diversified on-line program that is fairly easy to use and in its simplest form is free. I have used Google Docs for other projects and have found some problems with some of the formatting issues. These are usually simple to work around and should not be a large enough reason to not use the program. Google Docs is similar to many office type programs already on the market. Google dock can be edited on, used for joint projects as we did, used for peer reviews and comments. Google Docs can be used on Google sites, or on Google's social website- Google +. Google Docs offers a lot of diversity in their product for classrooms to explore and they offer the option of how they are to be published. It is easy to set up a closed network that could only be accessed by a classroom to offer security to the students. Since online security is a major issue with younger students, Google Docs is a good choice for the classroom setting. Assignments can be created or uploaded for a classroom. Students can then log in and work on the project and the teacher can monitor the progress of the group, or individual progress.