Module 2 Blog Post

Interactive Storybooks: 
Stories that can be read from a computer screen, on mobile devices, or as print books with interactive buttons

Clifford's Emily Goes to School is an example of an interactive storybook. I LOVE these for literacy centers in the younger grades. I particularly like ones like this because because have a few options as far as reading: you can read the text yourself or you can click on the speaker next to the line and it will read the text to you, allowing the students to hear the text as they see it, building their phonics and fluency skills. This interactive storybook has incomplete sentences and a word bank for students to fill in the blank. Each answer is correct and it changes the story, so it's kind of like one of those choose-your-own-adventure, so the students can be involved and invested in their reading.

Virtual Reality: 
Computer generated environment designed to provide a lifelike simulation of actual settings, often uses data gloves and headgear to immerse user in simulated environment. representation of real or imaginary worlds in which the user interacts through multiple senses.

Google brings virtual reality to the classroom in a very cheap way as described in this article. I honestly think this is so cool! This is something we dreamed about when we were kids and watched on Sci-Fi shows, but now it's a tool we can use in our classroom to take our kids on exciting fields trips without ever even having to leave the classroom! This article talks about how the virtual reality only needs cardboard, mobile devices, and software. One example is through Expeditions with the Planetary Society and the American Museum of Natural History, and once you receive the kit, you can take your whole class on a virtual field trip together.

Interactive Storybooks on the iPad

Module 1 Blog Post

Word Processing Software
Benefits: Word processing is used in schools because it saves time, enhances the appearance of documents, allows for sharing of documents, and allows for collaboration on documents.
Issues: Not everyone is on board for the use of word processing in the classroom. There is debate over when students should begin using word processing and the time necessary to teach keyboarding skills would take away from other content areas. Word processing has had a negative effect on handwriting and on the scores of essay type questions versus handwritten assessments. Problems with inadvertent errors due to the autocorrect feature that can replace typed words with ones the software thinks is more correct can penalize the students unfairly.

Spreadsheet Software
Benefits: Spreadsheets are used to save time, organize displays of information, increase the motivation to work with mathematics, and support the asking of "what if" questions by encouraging problem solving.
Issues: The major issue with using spreadsheets is that there is a general fear of mathematics and processing numbers, which means no one wants to use them. There is also a need for time to get students used them, again, taking away from instructional time in content areas.

Presentation Software 
Benefits: Presentation software helps to organize thinking about a topic, enhances the impact of spoken information, and allows collaboration on presentations.
Issues: There is no research to prove consistent impact on education impact as it depends on how its used. Presentations often negatively impact teaching styles as teachers tend to read from the PowerPoint and student participation seems to be discouraged as they are generally lecture-style presentation.


Classroom Uses for Word Processing
After teaching a lesson on the Civil War, I could have my fourth graders write journal entries from the perspective of a Union or Confederate soldier. They would write these on a computer, either a PC or Mac, using word processing software. This allows the students to more easily work through the writing processes from drafting to editing to final products while also practicing their keyboarding skills.