Module 3

Search Engines

Learning to use search engines can enable students to find the best information for their educational needs. Luckily, schools have filters to eliminate students coming in contact with unwanted topics or information, but learning to use search engines effectively can make the research task effortless. By using search engines correctly, students have a wide range of detailed information at their fingertips. They can search for specific topics all in the same place without having to go through numerous resources such as textbooks or articles. Google is my go to search engine, what is yours?

Website Evaluation

This video about website evaluation could be a great resource in my classroom because it is simple and to the point. I think that students could easily remember the acronym, R.E.A.L., that is presented in the video. It gives students a quick reference for what to look for when they are evaluating the integrity of different websites.

Favorite Website #1

 One of my most recent favorite websites is Smart Exchange. A teacher that I worked with recently told me about this site and how she uses it daily in her classroom. There are numerous lessons for the Smart Board, but my favorite thing she used it for was attendance. I have navigated through the site several times since, and I love all of the options for the Smart Board that they provide. The website has good structure and organization with their main categories and then sub categories from there. You can search and narrow to fit your needs quite efficiently.

Favorite Website #2

I like Mrs. Koopman's 5th Grade Wiki. It is a classroom wiki that promotes care, contribution, collaboration, celebration, and cooperation. There is a good description of what a wiki is and why to use it. I think that this wiki is easy to navigate, and it has good structure and organization. 

I am eager to learn more about wikis and how to use them in the classroom! 

 

Module 2: Hypermedia and Multimedia Tools for Teaching and Learning

 Commercial Hypermedia Product

Commercial Hypermedia Products are widely used in most classroom environments today. Commercial Hypermedia Products are divided into four different categories: instructional software, interactive or electronic storybooks, reference materials, and collections of development resources. 

I am going to dive deeper into the "collections of development resources" category within this post. I believe that many educators use this category in their daily instruction. Collection of development resources is a fancy reference name for clip art, photos, fun fonts, animations, charts, templates, sound clips, etc. These are the enhancers of your technology-based instructional practices. These enhancers can be as simple as a chosen font or PowerPoint template. We, as teachers, are unaware of how often we make adjustments with collections of development resources. 

I am including a link to a free font website (http://www.urbanfonts.com/). On this website, you can search for fun, new fonts for your personal use (presentations, newsletters, visual aids, schedules, etc.). The options are endless! You can search for something specific, or you can browse by category (new fonts, top 100, etc.). You can search by font characteristic (dotted, USA, western, adventure). It's always fun to be able to create something of your own that reflects your personality and serves an important purpose in your classroom. Changing something as simple as a font can make your visual presentation of information more appealing to you, parents, and students.

Chosen Multimedia Authoring Tool

A multimedia tool that I am looking forward to using in my own classroom is Virtual Environments! With field trips becoming more scarce, a virtual environment can take students to a new place without them ever leaving the classroom. Students will have the opportunity to experience new places and things from the comfort of their classroom. They will be able to see things that they never dreamed of seeing, while you, the teacher, give them an experience of a lifetime! Not only can you experience field trips that you've never been  apart of yourself, but you can also make virtual field trips of your own. This is a great way to give back to other students that may not be able to physically experience something close to your school. So, remember to take lots of pictures and gather information on your own trips, in order to upload them into a virtual field trip of your own later!

Go on a tour of The Great Wall of China here. 

 

Welcome!

Hi! My name is Ashleigh Harlow, and welcome to my blog! I am a senior at the University of Montevallo in Montevallo, Alabama. I am studying Elementary Education, and I will graduate in the Fall of this year. I am a daughter, a sister, and a friend, but above all, I am a mom to a daughter (Dakota Cheyenne) and a son (Leighton Bentley). I will be welcoming a new little mister in May, and his name is Lincoln Colt. I love all things education, and I can't wait to have a classroom of my own very soon!