Need Help?

Do your teachers need a personal trainer?
By Aileen M. Owens

Teachers sometimes need support when it comes to their classroom and some help with technology as well. By partnership with Duquesne University Instructional Technology Department, teachers were able to get one-on-one help with technology. The program is meant to help teachers before, during their breaks, and after school; teachers are also required to meet 45minutes weekly. Not only does the program help teachers with technology but it helps teachers target areas in what their students need help on. The partnership helps by brainstorm in ways to enrich the lesson by researching available resources, technology, and other instructional strategies that can increase learning for the students and give teachers the chance to teach the concept in a new way. After the teachers finish the project and like the results they would immediately would begin a new project.

Duquesne University, came up with a Student Internship Program for Instructional Technology, the internship is meant to help match the teachers needs in by identifying the students skills. There were many rewarding stories by having interns helping in schools. An example was using word to create an animal project. The teacher and intern were able to see the areas of difficulty students would have. One of the problems was changing the font, color, and size; what the intern identified was that students would get frustrated but they were missing the first step which was highlighting the word. So, what was decided was to create a game were students were divided into groups then asked question in how to use word or other computer programs. This program helps teachers get support and training in were they most need it, in the classroom.

I think any teacher would appreciate having another pair of hands to help the students get the best education. I would like to have an intern in my class that would be able to help me with the technology I would use, and to help me target the areas in were the student needs the most help in. It would also be a good idea to have another person help enrich the curriculum.

One-On-One

Assessment made easy
By Andrew A. Zucker

Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST), was the first public charter high school to on one-on-one laptop school. With a donation the school was able to buy computers for every student attending the school. By having a laptop for every student the school test score improved dramatically and every graduating senior were accepted to a four year college, which is rare.

Students and teachers said that by having test and work done through the computer students were able to receive feedback instantly, and teachers received responses and knew what their students needed help in. by receiving responses immediately students were able to see in what area they needed more help and knew where they stand in the course. This also gave more time for the teachers to correct other work that need more attention, for instance essays. Also, for language art teacher this system is great because students are able to upload their papers and the teachers can project them to the whole class, of course they can make the name confidential. By projecting the papers students are able to see the corrections and why, they will understand their mistakes others so they will not commit the same mistakes.

This would be something I would love to have in my class, having a system where students can receive feedback on their work, and test right away. This would help my students and me to see where my class stands on the subject being taught, and my students would also know right away in what they need the extra help in. The only thing that I see that would cause problems is in that I know that not all schools will be privileged with donations, or having a laptop for every student.

Video Games

Virtual Worlds in the Classroom

By Maureen Brown Yoder

In the article, it explained how by 2011, there are going to be an additional 20 million children who will be members of Internet-based multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs). This program is a program that some educators have been using to keep their students interactive with class subjects. The program is about creating a virtual society and a virtual person that is called an avatar. In playing the virtual game, students learn about the environment, social skills, and life skills. The program is for any age; if it is being used for educational purposes by the teachers, they would choose private projects where only the teacher and the students are able to see the progress of the virtual worlds.

The MUVE is not only about a virtual world but a mixture of virtual world technologies with real world challenges. An example was a high school science teacher blending in class activities with virtual world activities. Students would enter the virtual program and learn about science; they learned about energy alternatives, photovoltaic solar cells, hybrid cars, and more. After learning about a certain topic, the students would present their findings on a billboard. By introducing this program to students, students’ interest in science increased making them want to stay in class and continue with their work. The program also allows teacher to alter and/or tailor an activity were all students can participate, from low-performing to advance. The virtual program also promotes students to be creative, express their interests, and find an identity. The program is founded by humanities, art, science, and technology---subjects that are being taught to students every day.

The program has been a success for some educators. As a future educator my worry is how I will keep the students engaged with daily lesson plans, especially when most children are becoming dependent on technology. In reading about MUVEs, I feel like this may be a program that I would use with an older group; maybe for a 4^th or 5^th grade class. This program would be fun for students because they would be playing but it will still be educational. By participating in a virtual world I would be able to alter some activities to fit my needs and also the students and I would be able to combine their findings with actual lectures in class. Hopefully this will also promote discussion in class with all students comparing virtual world with the real world.