Kelly O’Neill
T&L 466
September 24, 2007
Blogs in Education
1. There are many different types of Educational Blogs that can be found out on the web. When typing in Educational Blogs into three different search engines I came up with many of the same responses. I used the search engines of Google, Yahoo, and AOL. These search engines most likely came up with the same results because they are the blog pages that came up are very popular sites.
2. Educational Blogs can be used for many different purposes in the classroom. I remember going home from school sometimes and then having a question about an assignment. With blogs students can post questions to other students or the teacher on an assignment or anything else from class. Another interesting way to use blogs is to have an online discussion. This could be questions posted between the students and having their peers help them to answer instead of the teacher. The discussion could also include the students posting comments prior to an in class discussion that way all students can have some prior knowledge of what the other students have to say about the topic. A third interesting way to use blogs would be for the teacher to post different links that would aid in research for a project or assignment. For example a link to the local newspaper or a website that is not easily found if a student was to be searching on Google or Yahoo.
3. RSS readers and aggregators are used in blogs to have a connection to another web page that updates regularly. In a classroom a teacher could use a RSS reader or aggregator to allow students to stay updated on the latest news. A teacher could post a link on their blog to a national or local newspaper that has daily updates.
4. Blogging and the use of RSS readers will have a huge impact on the classroom. The blog pages will allow for better communication between the teacher and student and also between the student and another student. Teachers can post readings, assignments and grades on blogs while the students can post back questions to the teacher or other students. Also the use of blogs will help students become better equipped with using the internet. RSS readers will help students stay up to date on local or national issues.
5. While there are many advantages of using blogs in the classroom that I have already mentioned, there are some disadvantages as well. Two of the most important positive impacts of blogs would be the communication between the student and the rest of the class and teacher, and with RSS readers students will be able to say up on changing news. Some cons may be that while most families today have internet access, not everyone has a computer at home so it is important to know who has a computer and how does not and make different arrangements for those students who do not. Another con would be that students using the blogs in class may become distracted and go on to other non educational websites such as checking their facebook or myspace pages.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Focus on Learning Styles Project
Kelly O’Neill
T&L 466
Focus on Learning Styles
September 4, 2007
Learning Styles are very important in knowing how to teach your students. Not every student is going to have the same learning style as you the teacher nor will all the students in the class have the same learning style as their peers. The Abiator’s Learning Styles Inventory Test is a learning style test that’s purpose is to inform the tester on what learning styles they learn form best. It can be found on the Teach-nology website, http://www.teach-nology.com/currenttrends/learning_styles, under the current trends in education. This test measures for three different learning styles including Visual, Auditory, and Tactile-Kinesthetic. The test asks question pertaining to what type of situations are best learning, test taking, and studying. The questions ask how good you are with maps and charts or if you would rather read instructions or have the instructions read to you. This is a good test in trying to find out what the different learning styles are in your classroom so you can make sure you try and reach each student.
My learning style according to the Abiator’s Learning Style Inventory Test is that I am primarily a Visual learning, then Tactile-Kenesthetic, and I have very little of an Auditory learning style. The site gave me a lot of useful information on my learning style such as I learn better when I watch my professor to help stay focused, writing things down will better help me remember them later, and when studying I should be in a quiet environment. This information will be useful to know when I’m teaching in the future. Although I will not stick to this style knowing how well I work with my learning style will help me try and reach all the learning styles of my students.
Better understanding my own learning style will be very useful when it comes time for teaching. Knowing what my learning style is will help me create ways of presenting the material that all students can learn from. Just because one student and myself are Visual learners does not mean that every lesson created needs to cater towards that learning style. Being a Visual learner myself I will need to prepare lessons that are not just catered towards the visual learners as well. It is very important for all students to be exposed to all different learning styles. This will help them prepare for college and jobs when students’ professors and bosses are not going to be catering to their learning styles.
I looked at the teaching strategies for all of the learning styles that the Abiator’s Learning Styles Inventory tested for. One strategy that was discussed under all three categories was the use of media. Using forms of media such as video or computers incorporates all three learning style. Using this strategy every once in a while in the class room will help to reach every students learning style. As mentioned earlier it is important that students are exposed to every learning style so they are able to adjust to a boss or professor in the future who only lectures or like to show videos. All three learning styles that are discussed on the Abiator’s Learning Style Inventory can be easily achieved in the classroom. By mixing and putting together different strategies students will come out of the class with the ability to adapt to different learning styles.
T&L 466
Focus on Learning Styles
September 4, 2007
Learning Styles are very important in knowing how to teach your students. Not every student is going to have the same learning style as you the teacher nor will all the students in the class have the same learning style as their peers. The Abiator’s Learning Styles Inventory Test is a learning style test that’s purpose is to inform the tester on what learning styles they learn form best. It can be found on the Teach-nology website, http://www.teach-nology.com/currenttrends/learning_styles, under the current trends in education. This test measures for three different learning styles including Visual, Auditory, and Tactile-Kinesthetic. The test asks question pertaining to what type of situations are best learning, test taking, and studying. The questions ask how good you are with maps and charts or if you would rather read instructions or have the instructions read to you. This is a good test in trying to find out what the different learning styles are in your classroom so you can make sure you try and reach each student.
My learning style according to the Abiator’s Learning Style Inventory Test is that I am primarily a Visual learning, then Tactile-Kenesthetic, and I have very little of an Auditory learning style. The site gave me a lot of useful information on my learning style such as I learn better when I watch my professor to help stay focused, writing things down will better help me remember them later, and when studying I should be in a quiet environment. This information will be useful to know when I’m teaching in the future. Although I will not stick to this style knowing how well I work with my learning style will help me try and reach all the learning styles of my students.
Better understanding my own learning style will be very useful when it comes time for teaching. Knowing what my learning style is will help me create ways of presenting the material that all students can learn from. Just because one student and myself are Visual learners does not mean that every lesson created needs to cater towards that learning style. Being a Visual learner myself I will need to prepare lessons that are not just catered towards the visual learners as well. It is very important for all students to be exposed to all different learning styles. This will help them prepare for college and jobs when students’ professors and bosses are not going to be catering to their learning styles.
I looked at the teaching strategies for all of the learning styles that the Abiator’s Learning Styles Inventory tested for. One strategy that was discussed under all three categories was the use of media. Using forms of media such as video or computers incorporates all three learning style. Using this strategy every once in a while in the class room will help to reach every students learning style. As mentioned earlier it is important that students are exposed to every learning style so they are able to adjust to a boss or professor in the future who only lectures or like to show videos. All three learning styles that are discussed on the Abiator’s Learning Style Inventory can be easily achieved in the classroom. By mixing and putting together different strategies students will come out of the class with the ability to adapt to different learning styles.
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