Things in our world are changing constantly. In regards to technology, it changes very frequently. Technology is constantly changing and all teachers should do their best to keep up with it. Emerging technology is technology that is currently being developed or will be developed within the next couple of years. Even emerging technology is important for teachers to keep an eye on and possibly learn to incorporate into their classroom because one new technology may be more useful in the classroom than one that is already being utilized.
A really good emerging technology tool that I want to utilize in my classroom setting is the use of mobile devices and apps. I have already experienced what it is like to use some apps in a classroom setting such as Socrative which is an interactive app where the teacher can create a quiz or survey questions that the students respond to on their own devices (phones, iPads, etc..). The teacher is in control of moving on to the next question or allowing students to go through the whole thing without stopping. I could have students download a free a physical activity app and have them track their activity on the app and show me their results at the end of the allotted period given.
Follow this link to see examples of apps I might use in my classroom.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Assistive Technology
Thanks to advances in technology, students with disabilities can participate in physical activities no matter their physical, mental, emotional, or social handicap or disability. With the use of assistive technology, disabled students can accomplish tasks that they may have not been originally capable of doing. One assistive technology tool that could be very useful to have my classroom is a hand cranked bicycle (handcycle). This allows students with spinal cord injuries or paralysis that are normally confined to wheel chairs to have more mobility.
Handcycling is a great upper body workout and can give the student a sense of freedom from their wheelchair. Most handcycles have three wheels, two in the back and one in the front that steers. Handcycles require strength to be powered so it encourages use of the body instead of rolling around in a wheelchair which may take less energy and be less useful when approaching the subject of physical education which requires students to be physically active.
My hope is to use handcycles in my class for students with injuries or disabilities that doesn't allow them to use their legs to sort of "keep up" with the other students during activities. For example, if I am having students run laps around the gym or outside track, I'd like to have the disabled student use the hadcycle so that they are not discluded entirely from the exercise.
Handcycling is a great upper body workout and can give the student a sense of freedom from their wheelchair. Most handcycles have three wheels, two in the back and one in the front that steers. Handcycles require strength to be powered so it encourages use of the body instead of rolling around in a wheelchair which may take less energy and be less useful when approaching the subject of physical education which requires students to be physically active.
My hope is to use handcycles in my class for students with injuries or disabilities that doesn't allow them to use their legs to sort of "keep up" with the other students during activities. For example, if I am having students run laps around the gym or outside track, I'd like to have the disabled student use the hadcycle so that they are not discluded entirely from the exercise.
Professional Development Web Resources
I have created a list of educational sites that includes websites, blogs, newsletters, and archives to show the availability of resources for teachers for both technology use in the classroom and specifically teacher resources for teaching physical education since that is my teaching field. Half of the links that I included are about technology integration in the classroom and the other half are resources for physical education teachers including lesson plans, topics, printable worksheets, quizzes, and so on. Some of these sites are very valuable as professional development resources because as the years go on the digital world changes and we have to adjust with it so we should always be looking for ways to integrate technology into our classroom. The other sites are useful because it helps me and any other physical education teacher find useful resources on the web to use in our classroom. The best part about these sites is that they are updated regularly so that we are always up to speed with changes and technological advances. Follow the link HERE and take a look for yourself at the kind of resources that are available for teachers.
Friday, April 10, 2015
Prezi Digital Citizenship Presentation
Using Prezi as a presentation tool is a great alternative to using a simple PowerPoint. It utilizes visual features to connect multiple "slides" to a specific topic. It is very easy to use and can make anyone look like an excellent presenter. One of the many wonderful features of Prezi is the ability to make your Prezi public so that anyone can search and look at your work. Because of this, it allows you to search other people's Prezis to help give yourself ideas of what to put in your own Prezi.
My topic for my Digital Citizenship Presentation using Prezi is "How can teachers monitor/prevent student access of inappropriate content on the internet?" I connected youtube videos, pictures, and links to my page to really answer the question and help teachers, and parents, how to monitor internet access by students.
My topic for my Digital Citizenship Presentation using Prezi is "How can teachers monitor/prevent student access of inappropriate content on the internet?" I connected youtube videos, pictures, and links to my page to really answer the question and help teachers, and parents, how to monitor internet access by students.
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