When I first went to school for my undergrad I pictured my first Language Arts classroom very similar to my class when I was in 7th grade. We would read books, sit in circles and discuss the author's purpose. Computers would only be used for typing papers and perhaps some research.
My classroom today is very different. I often find myself finding different instructional media and creating lessons centered around using this new media. On a daily basis I use an Elmo which is basically a cool document camera. I use this media for lessons which are basically lecture and demonstration, but I have often allowed students to create their own lessons and use the Elmo to project their own notes, graphics, and demonstrations. The kids love to "play teacher."
When we read class novels I have students keep blogs instead of a reflection journals or a classroom discussion. I find that this allows students to work on writing and publishing as well as exploring literature. Discussions online I find are slower, but more organized and profound than a quick classroom seminar.
I have used chat rooms with my class as well. When students are discussing something they have read or are planning a project together they will often log onto a Meebo Chat room where I can see a written log of everything they discuss.
I have used blogging and chat rooms extensively in class because I find they are very similar to the types of discussion students can have face to face. This means it takes little time and training to use these medias.
In the future I would like to try using more multimedia programs and wikis where students can work on projects. Most of my class is project based learning or seminars. I use the media to help groups of students communicate and create products for presentation.
I have also been reading a lot about virtual realities such as Dr. Sugar mentioned Second Life. Some NC Virtual High School Teachers have been toying with this virtual reality to create classrooms online for students. I would love to know if anyone uses anything like this in their classroom today and what methods along with it?
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It is interesting to see how classroom instruction has changed from when we were school. We used old typewriters to teach us our typing skills. I didn't really use computers until high school. I signed up for classes like computer applications and accounting. Now students are exposed to computers at a young age. It is a skill that they will utilize their entire lives.
Do you have several computers in your classroom to allow so much on-line work?
I only have one computer assigned to my room.
Our school has 2 computer labs and 3 mobil laptop labs.
I have heard that some corporate training functions have also been exploring virtual training environments in Second Life.
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