I really didn't think I would find much available for a history class, but with a bit of good luck I discovered ABC CLIO's American History. This is basically a database for historical research, with American History and Geography, World History and Geography, and Current Events at your fingertips.
The tour didn't give a lot of information, but from teh impression I got the pages are clear and the search feature screens out non-history related references. In other words, it says that if you have students studying Rennisance art their research won't get hung up by the school's porn filters. The links to current events will also be handy for relating historical events to what's happening today.
I also liked the links to primary sources available on the research pages. It was surprising to see the Zimmerman telegram in full detail on the screen, rather than a picture so small that nothing could be read.
As this is history research, violence is prevalent. If this is a problem, we need to find a nicer Napolean.
American History is a subscription service rather than a CD or DVD download. It costs $599, which may be a bit steep for most smaller districts. It works with either MAC or PC, and needs at least Win 95 or 250 K of memory to work properly.
The advertizement said this software has won several awards, and that it is geared to work with most textbooks used in public schools. Were I about to buy this product, I'd check that last claim closely.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Digital Frog Scratched
I looked at the Digital Field Trip software, as I might actually use these in a geography class. It would be great for students to be able to see a rainforest instead of just studying about where they are.
The Digital Field Trip is from Digital Frog International, and the CD runs in both PC and Mac systems. It requires Windows 95, a Pentium II or Mac Power PC 180 and 3 MB RAM. The cost is $99 for the educational version that includes a teacher workbook. The system is a closed system on a CD.
The program involves full screen video and keyboard access, with text-to-speech and closed caption capabilities. This would be usable for all students. The program is low in violence and has full movement, so students can look around the screen.
I wasn't able to try anything on the program myself, so I don't know if it loads consistently. There is a free demo to download, but the computers in the library would not allow me to run it.
Were I able to open the download and try this myself, I think I would recommend it for use.
The Digital Field Trip is from Digital Frog International, and the CD runs in both PC and Mac systems. It requires Windows 95, a Pentium II or Mac Power PC 180 and 3 MB RAM. The cost is $99 for the educational version that includes a teacher workbook. The system is a closed system on a CD.
The program involves full screen video and keyboard access, with text-to-speech and closed caption capabilities. This would be usable for all students. The program is low in violence and has full movement, so students can look around the screen.
I wasn't able to try anything on the program myself, so I don't know if it loads consistently. There is a free demo to download, but the computers in the library would not allow me to run it.
Were I able to open the download and try this myself, I think I would recommend it for use.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Teaching sites
After looking at the various websites, I feel less discouraged than I did last time I posted. There were actually things here that I could use.
Learn NC was particularly helpful. The ideas about collaborative teaching, blending lessons in English and Social Studies, made a lot of sense. The lesson plans were more comprehensive than I had anticipated, and it looks like they expected a decent term paper to come out of the lesson. Of course, this was for an AP class but I think it could be used by all levels of teaching.
Turner Learning did nothing for me -- as in the page didn't move, there were no connections to any ideas anywhere.
TrackStar took a minute to figure out, but once I did I found great connections. I especially enjoyed the track on the Salem trials. I love the idea that teachers can share lessons that worked well in their classrooms.
The CDE website seemed to be all about internet safety, filtering, and giving guidelines to safe surfing. Time for a rant, so brace yourself. We can put all the safety systems and filters we like on the computers, we can warn students to stay away from trouble, but it's all for nothing if there's nobody looking over a shoulder occasionally. Students will find ways around the filters, and they've more time to devote to the task than we as adults do. Filters also seem likely to block the "good stuff" that we want our students to get at.
The Journal had an interesting piece about a program to control student computers from a teacher's main computer. This looks good, and might address some of my concern with the CDE articles as a teacher could monitor an entire classroom from one screen. My only thought is that I'd better be very familiar with the system before I used it in front of students. I can't think of anything worse than having to ask one of my students to help me work the system.
But then, that's why I'm taking this class. :-)
Learn NC was particularly helpful. The ideas about collaborative teaching, blending lessons in English and Social Studies, made a lot of sense. The lesson plans were more comprehensive than I had anticipated, and it looks like they expected a decent term paper to come out of the lesson. Of course, this was for an AP class but I think it could be used by all levels of teaching.
Turner Learning did nothing for me -- as in the page didn't move, there were no connections to any ideas anywhere.
TrackStar took a minute to figure out, but once I did I found great connections. I especially enjoyed the track on the Salem trials. I love the idea that teachers can share lessons that worked well in their classrooms.
The CDE website seemed to be all about internet safety, filtering, and giving guidelines to safe surfing. Time for a rant, so brace yourself. We can put all the safety systems and filters we like on the computers, we can warn students to stay away from trouble, but it's all for nothing if there's nobody looking over a shoulder occasionally. Students will find ways around the filters, and they've more time to devote to the task than we as adults do. Filters also seem likely to block the "good stuff" that we want our students to get at.
The Journal had an interesting piece about a program to control student computers from a teacher's main computer. This looks good, and might address some of my concern with the CDE articles as a teacher could monitor an entire classroom from one screen. My only thought is that I'd better be very familiar with the system before I used it in front of students. I can't think of anything worse than having to ask one of my students to help me work the system.
But then, that's why I'm taking this class. :-)
Copyrites in a classroom
Well, I'm back. Nothing puts a person behind like a really nasty bout of something, but I'm at least catching up now.
My thoughts on copyrite use in a classroom:
First, as far as written work goes, if you don't credit it and you use it, you're stealing from the author. You're cheating yourself, your students (by not modeling proper behavior) and of course the person who did the actual work of writing the piece.
TV shows, movies and music are usually OK for classrooms. Of course, anything over 75 years old is safe since copyrights expire.
The Creative Commons looks good. The Open Library particularly caught my eye, as I'm wanting to use primary sources, if possible, when I teach. If there's a way I can download parts of old books and print them off for students without having to travel to the nearest big city, all the better.
My thoughts on copyrite use in a classroom:
First, as far as written work goes, if you don't credit it and you use it, you're stealing from the author. You're cheating yourself, your students (by not modeling proper behavior) and of course the person who did the actual work of writing the piece.
TV shows, movies and music are usually OK for classrooms. Of course, anything over 75 years old is safe since copyrights expire.
The Creative Commons looks good. The Open Library particularly caught my eye, as I'm wanting to use primary sources, if possible, when I teach. If there's a way I can download parts of old books and print them off for students without having to travel to the nearest big city, all the better.
Well, I've looked at the three websites listed on the module. The first, the AACE, seemed to be mostly technical. I'm not going to teach computer literacy (thank God!), I'm just wanting to be able to use computers et al in my normal classroom. Also, this site had lots of acronyms and idioms, lists of letters with little explanation.
AECT seemed more useful, although it too was directed at tech experts. I glanced at the piece about "A Culture of Technology" and soon realized that it wasn't an actual article. Again, not much for the dabbler.
The ISTE site had actual information! I found several articles on the Digital Divide, Gender Equity in the classroom, and ways to equalize the playing field for students who don't have a lot of access or ability with computers. What's more, these articles were written in actual English. What a concept.
ITEA was yet another organization that seemed to think I might want to join them without knowing anything about what they do. No articles, no editorials, just jargon and lots of advertizement about an upcomming convention.
AECT seemed more useful, although it too was directed at tech experts. I glanced at the piece about "A Culture of Technology" and soon realized that it wasn't an actual article. Again, not much for the dabbler.
The ISTE site had actual information! I found several articles on the Digital Divide, Gender Equity in the classroom, and ways to equalize the playing field for students who don't have a lot of access or ability with computers. What's more, these articles were written in actual English. What a concept.
ITEA was yet another organization that seemed to think I might want to join them without knowing anything about what they do. No articles, no editorials, just jargon and lots of advertizement about an upcomming convention.
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