Meaningful Learning

     Technolgy based rubrics are very helpful documents for educators. Rubrics make it a lot easier for teachers
to grade students work. Aside from grading, it gives a way for teachers to give students a basis to go off of for
assignments. Not only do rubrics make things easier for teachers, but they also make things easier for students.
for students who have teachers that post rubrics, this gives students a foundation for students to go and look at to
basically tell them everything that the teacher wants to be done on the assignment.
     Clickers are like little remotes that students can use in the classroom to poll in or send answers to teachers
questions. These are easy and simple devices that can keep track of when a student answers a question and
whether they got it right or wrong. This is a way to keep children in a classroom interacting with the lesson so that
the studeents do not fall asleep or get board with what the teacher is teaching. Students like to be able to see if
they answered a question correctly or how well they did on a test, and that is a reason that this a good tool
because teachers can administer tests and quizzes where students can send in answers through this device. The
cool thing about this is that after the answers are submitted, teachers can print out the students answers and show
them how they did on the test right there.
     Inspirtation and kidspiration are brainstorming tools for grades k-12. More specifically, kidspiration is
for students k-5 and inspiration is for grades 6-12. These inpiration tools are for brainstorming and mapping ideas
that are thought of. The kidspiration program is geared more toward teaching about words, numbers, and
concepts. The inspiration program is for the older students so it helps develop skills in diagramming, outlining,
mapping, and presenting. This is a good tool for all ages to help develop planning skills.
     All three of these could easily be put into a teachers lesson plan. The rubrics actually make things a lot simpler
for students because it lets them know exactly the teacher wants on an assignment. teachers should give a rubric
with every assignment so students know what to do and do not have to guess. Clickers should be used in just
about all classrooms to keep students attentive and interacting with the class and teacher. Teachers could have the
students do one assignment that requires the use of inspiration mapping.
     Works cited

Schrock, K. (1995). Discovery education. Retrieved from http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/assess.html

Inspiration. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.inspiration.com/
Qwizdom. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.qwizdom.com

Visualizing with Technology

Digital storytelling is creating a story with the help of technology. This is telling a story using videos, paper, and then editing the video on the computer. A computer is needed to create digital storytelling because in order to do this, the student has to make a desktop movie. There are several parts to creating a digital story. The 1^st step in creating one is the preproduction. This is where the students plan out their story by researching, brainstorming, and organizing the information so that it is ready to be put together. During the preproduction stage the student will do the most work out of the whole project.  Students must not only research their subject but also but gather photos, create storyboards, and also gather any video needed for the digital story. Next the students will create a checklist with exposition, rising action, climax, and falling action. This should be used to evaluate the project and make the sure that their project is giving the viewer the correct message. In the actual production part of the story building, the student will actually begin to shoot the video. This is a good activity because it gives a student the chance to be a director, editor, videographer, and an actor all at once.

Since math is such a abstract subject, there a programs built just for this to help make it seem more real to students. Some of the programs include Mathematica, Math Lab, Statistical Analysis system, Statistical Package and several other programs are out to help students. In addition to these programs, there have been devices created such as graphing calculators to help students understand the relationships between linear equations and other numbering or graphing problems they may have. These calculators allow students to go from numeric representations, symbolic, and graphical functions. There have been studies that show that students who use graphing calculators are more persistent when they meet a new problem.

It is possible for students to learn just from watching TV alone depending on what type of learner the student is. If a student is a visual learner than it is easier for them to watch something instructional on a show or video then be able to imitate it. People who are less visual and need more hands on learners may actually need more instruction than just watching something on television.

Works Cited

            Jonassen, D, Howland, J, Marra, R, & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful learning with technology. Upper Sadle River, New Jersey: Pearson Merrill/Prentice Hall.