This week I learned about computer viruses, ethical, and other issues concerning the implementation of technology. Finally, I researched three websites on wikis, visual literacy and the brain. Even if a teacher has great ideas about how to use technology in the classroom, implementing their plans could really be difficult. Obviously, there are safety issues and students have to learn how to ethically use online resources, especially in school settings. So teachers need to be prepared to deal with these various issues when implementing technology in the classroom.
For wikis, I looked at the wikispace listing of educational wikis. I will admit that I had some doubts about using wikis in the classroom even before looking at the example on this website. Personally, it seems that almost anything that can be done on a wiki can be done on a regular classroom website or blog. Unfortunately, looking at the wikis on wikispace did not really change my view of this tool very much. Of the approximately five classroom wikis I reviewed, I would say that only one had distinguishing features that could not found be found in a traditional website. You can find the link to that website here. This teacher obviously embraced this tool and used it. She also had her students create and post digital portfolios. It seems to me that the main reason to use wikis is the ability for easy collaboration. I would say that the best wiki had some collaborative aspects; but even then I felt it did not really make full use of the collaborative possibilities. Also, the teacher's wiki was a little cluttered and disorganized.
For visual literacy I looked at the edutopia article and video that featured Martin Scorsese. I found this to be particularly interesting because of my undergraduate background in media and video production. In this media intense world, I agree that it is very important to teach visual literacy to students. Also, teaching visual literacy can really help students with their higher level thinking skills. They should look at images not only at their simplest level; but they should also look deeper to see if there are hidden meanings or messages.
For the brain, I looked at the Dana Foundation website. There was great information about the brain and brain research. I particularly liked the blog which talked about brain issues in common language. As a teacher I really was impressed with their web resources for children. They had good resources and links which, as I have mentioned in previous blog postings, seem to be few and far between. They linked to the Centers for Disease Control website for kids, which was brilliantly put together. I will definitely look to use this resource in my classroom.
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