So, in order to keep pace with my husband, who has now started his own blog...I have decided to resurrect my own from its dormant state. I am no Jane Austen or Nicholas Sparks, but maybe with a little luck I can keep this up :)
Life at the Schmeling's has been a bit chaotic lately: Rick is on temporary lay-off and I am busy busting my butt so I can graduate in May and bring home a small paycheck. But through it all, I am reminded that God is good. Thanks to our tax return and some frugality we may be able to pay our Escape off next month. How good it will feel to be car payment free!!
Well, that's the latest from this little house in Alger Heights...More to come later.
Blessings,
Andi
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Online Campuses
Initially, I have to say that I have my doubts about the use of Second Life (or other such communities) in schools. I realize that I am saying this with never having experienced Second Life. I guess I am a skeptic when it comes to using things like myspace and Second Life in the classroom simply because there are so many ways for it all to backfire on the teacher.
After watching the Ohio University clip, I can see how it would be a cool way for a college or university to network student to student and teacher to teacher. But college students are adults and are responsible for the decisions they make regarding their education. High School students are largely at the mercy of their parents/guardians, administrators, and teachers when it comes to how they learn and what they learn.
I guess I can see how it might be helpful for some settings to give students a deeper learning experience. I favor student to teacher contact and setting up school in Second Life would eliminate that aspect of the learning experience. I think Second Life may be used as a resource in the classroom but it should not in any way replace teaching or interaction in the classroom.
For example, some advantages I can see from Second Life would be as Cool Cat Teacher Blog showed: Second Life can show students places and life that are in the past or where they cannot visit. It could potentially be a great way to enhance a lesson or to give a new perspective. Second Life could also be a way to reach students who are more introverted or with special needs.
The major disadvantage with Second Life would be limiting what the students can view or get to. There is really no way to monitor who your students talk to or what they do with Second life and as with all online communities it could quickly spiral out of control with just one student using it in a questionable manner.
I think that virtual schools will continue to grow because online is easy, convenient, and new. But, that doesn't mean that it will provide better students or that it will make learning deeper. I believe they have their place, and I don't feel that using them for complete classes is the answer.
After watching the Ohio University clip, I can see how it would be a cool way for a college or university to network student to student and teacher to teacher. But college students are adults and are responsible for the decisions they make regarding their education. High School students are largely at the mercy of their parents/guardians, administrators, and teachers when it comes to how they learn and what they learn.
I guess I can see how it might be helpful for some settings to give students a deeper learning experience. I favor student to teacher contact and setting up school in Second Life would eliminate that aspect of the learning experience. I think Second Life may be used as a resource in the classroom but it should not in any way replace teaching or interaction in the classroom.
For example, some advantages I can see from Second Life would be as Cool Cat Teacher Blog showed: Second Life can show students places and life that are in the past or where they cannot visit. It could potentially be a great way to enhance a lesson or to give a new perspective. Second Life could also be a way to reach students who are more introverted or with special needs.
The major disadvantage with Second Life would be limiting what the students can view or get to. There is really no way to monitor who your students talk to or what they do with Second life and as with all online communities it could quickly spiral out of control with just one student using it in a questionable manner.
I think that virtual schools will continue to grow because online is easy, convenient, and new. But, that doesn't mean that it will provide better students or that it will make learning deeper. I believe they have their place, and I don't feel that using them for complete classes is the answer.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Interesting Software
I was surprised to see that Carmen Sandiego is still worthy software for students in this technological age, considering it was popular when I was in elementary school 10 years ago....wow that's a long time.
Anyway, it was another Social Studies program that caught my eye this time: something newer and more complex. It is called Real Lives: Interactive Life Simulation. It is published by a company called Education Simulations and a brief description goes as follows: " [students learn about] The life experiences of individuals from different cultures and political systems and the economic opportunities, health issues, family issues, schooling and work choices that they face in their particular culture" (LearningVillage.com). The program is $25.00 for a downloaded version and $29.00 for the home edition, per the Educational Simulations website. There are also multi-packs of c.ds to be used in the classroom: 6pack for $149.00 and 30 pack for $699.00. For the Site License
(available for schools) : $1.00 per enrolled student in the school, minimum $250.
Basically, the program is set up to let students learn about life around the world through a character they create. It is so fine-tuned as to allow students to experience life through almost any country and culture in the world. Through their character, students can learn about religion, statistics, everyday life, poverty, etc. in that particular country. Then when the student is tired of that life or completes that character's life, they can move on to a new character and learn about that way of life. The program is made to encourage diversity and learning about geography and multicultural history for the students.
This program is geared toward Social Studies teachers and I am an English Major with a History Minor, so it would seem that this doesn't really apply to me in my classroom. First of all, I think this program could be used in just about any classroom to build understanding and diversity about other cultures. It just sounds like fun to be able to experiece some parts of life in other areas of the world. Secondly, I think I would like to use it in my English classroom as a way to teach my students about characterization and what goes into creating that fictional lead character. Also, I think the software would be helpful in educating students about life for future stories. The program seems solid and has many good reviews from teachers who have used it. It is very educational even from just a general viewpoint and I think it would useful in many, especially diverse, middle and high schools.
Anyway, it was another Social Studies program that caught my eye this time: something newer and more complex. It is called Real Lives: Interactive Life Simulation. It is published by a company called Education Simulations and a brief description goes as follows: " [students learn about] The life experiences of individuals from different cultures and political systems and the economic opportunities, health issues, family issues, schooling and work choices that they face in their particular culture" (LearningVillage.com). The program is $25.00 for a downloaded version and $29.00 for the home edition, per the Educational Simulations website. There are also multi-packs of c.ds to be used in the classroom: 6pack for $149.00 and 30 pack for $699.00. For the Site License
(available for schools) : $1.00 per enrolled student in the school, minimum $250.
Basically, the program is set up to let students learn about life around the world through a character they create. It is so fine-tuned as to allow students to experience life through almost any country and culture in the world. Through their character, students can learn about religion, statistics, everyday life, poverty, etc. in that particular country. Then when the student is tired of that life or completes that character's life, they can move on to a new character and learn about that way of life. The program is made to encourage diversity and learning about geography and multicultural history for the students.
This program is geared toward Social Studies teachers and I am an English Major with a History Minor, so it would seem that this doesn't really apply to me in my classroom. First of all, I think this program could be used in just about any classroom to build understanding and diversity about other cultures. It just sounds like fun to be able to experiece some parts of life in other areas of the world. Secondly, I think I would like to use it in my English classroom as a way to teach my students about characterization and what goes into creating that fictional lead character. Also, I think the software would be helpful in educating students about life for future stories. The program seems solid and has many good reviews from teachers who have used it. It is very educational even from just a general viewpoint and I think it would useful in many, especially diverse, middle and high schools.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Back in the day...
Right now I sit in front of my flat-screen monitor, typing on a "blog" remembering the days when wireless internet hadn't been invented and when Apple computers were pretty much all you could get.
Wow. that seems like forever ago. Just yesterday, my cable internet went out at my house and literally I didn't know how to function without checking my email and wondering who was writing to me or about me or what information I was missing because I wasn't connected to the internet community. We are indeed a technology-based society.
My most enduring memory about technology in my younger years has to do with the program known as Accelerated Reader. In it, students read books from home or the library that were on the list of "AR" books. For the book to be "AR" there had to be a test purchased for it on the computers in the computer lab. Each test was appropriate for the grade level of the book. That is, the harder or older the book, the more difficult the test. As the difficulty rose so did the points the book was worth. That was the fun part: accumulating points. Those points were like money in my pocket. You could buy toys, pencils, pens, books, hats, shirts, whatever if you had enough points. Since I loved to read, this point system suited me perfectly. As long as you truly read the book the computerized tests were fairly easy and that meant lots of points for me.
Since the tests were computerized, it was easy to keep track of how many points you earned and what you had saved up. I spent many an hour in the computer lab taking the tests from the books I read. Once, during mystery month in the 5th grade, I exhausted the Nancy Drew section of the library in my effort to read the most mysteries. I was putting away a book every day and a half. Those points kept accumulating and I kept reading and taking tests.
I credit that program with increasing my desire to read and also for increasing my ability to comprehend the words I read. It also helped that taking Accelerated Reader tests was also required for a grade in English. That and the reward system made reading both necessary and rewarding for me as an elementary school student. Technology has advanced far past that program, which now seems somewhat ancient. I still agree with the philosophy behind it though: why not allow reading to be rewarding in more ways than just "it will make you a better student" or "you will be smarter for reading this". Accelerated reader worked for me: I am a lifelong reader and lover of books.
Wow. that seems like forever ago. Just yesterday, my cable internet went out at my house and literally I didn't know how to function without checking my email and wondering who was writing to me or about me or what information I was missing because I wasn't connected to the internet community. We are indeed a technology-based society.
My most enduring memory about technology in my younger years has to do with the program known as Accelerated Reader. In it, students read books from home or the library that were on the list of "AR" books. For the book to be "AR" there had to be a test purchased for it on the computers in the computer lab. Each test was appropriate for the grade level of the book. That is, the harder or older the book, the more difficult the test. As the difficulty rose so did the points the book was worth. That was the fun part: accumulating points. Those points were like money in my pocket. You could buy toys, pencils, pens, books, hats, shirts, whatever if you had enough points. Since I loved to read, this point system suited me perfectly. As long as you truly read the book the computerized tests were fairly easy and that meant lots of points for me.
Since the tests were computerized, it was easy to keep track of how many points you earned and what you had saved up. I spent many an hour in the computer lab taking the tests from the books I read. Once, during mystery month in the 5th grade, I exhausted the Nancy Drew section of the library in my effort to read the most mysteries. I was putting away a book every day and a half. Those points kept accumulating and I kept reading and taking tests.
I credit that program with increasing my desire to read and also for increasing my ability to comprehend the words I read. It also helped that taking Accelerated Reader tests was also required for a grade in English. That and the reward system made reading both necessary and rewarding for me as an elementary school student. Technology has advanced far past that program, which now seems somewhat ancient. I still agree with the philosophy behind it though: why not allow reading to be rewarding in more ways than just "it will make you a better student" or "you will be smarter for reading this". Accelerated reader worked for me: I am a lifelong reader and lover of books.
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