aha! Classroom Sim

So the stimulation I found this week was called a Classroom Sim by Aha! Productions Inc. It is an interactive tool that allows you to use classroom management. The trial itself is free. This week was especially interesting to me to see the different types of technologies there are out there. The WWW has come out with so many different things to help students and teachers in the classrooms. By using this simulation I saw how life like they can be. It was very intriguing to see the different things they came out with for teachers. I would recommend playing the Trial Version. As a teacher in the years of technology, I hope to use as many of them as I can in the classroom. They can enhance learning so much if used in the right way. It would be very interesting to see. I really enjoyed the Reflection Paper assignment. I would have never found the simulation without it. Simulations are a great tool to use in the classroom if appropriate for the age group.

Article 2

Teachers are starting to believe that computer use is almost essential in a foreign language classroom. Software can give students a face to face interpersonal interaction that helps with fluency and accuracy. There is also software that teachers can buy for students and use in a computer lab, where they hear how to say a word or a sentence and then much mimic this back. It gives, in addition to learning in the classroom, a hands on approach where students do not need to feel afraid to speak up. Teachers can listen in on single students and help them with the pronunciation. Computers in the foreign language classroom can be used in so many ways and is really a simple way to add a new dimension in teaching. Teachers can also use interactive smart board with a computer and add almost a hands on approach to the teaching techniques they use. Students can see vocabulary hands on, hear the vocalization of the spoken language and have easier access to find their mistakes in the language. A computer is just such a great tool for language acquisition.
Hoe Kyeung Kim, Dorothy Rissel. (2008). Instructors' Integration of Computer Technology: Examining the Role of Interaction. Foreign Language Annals, 41(1), 61-80. Retrieved February 14, 2009, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 1462842711).

Article 1

In this article they examined the use of Podcasts in a foreign language classroom. Podcasts have been used to critique student projects and exams, for student video presentations, for student paired interviews, to complete specific assignments, dictations, in roundtable discussions, or for guest lectures. I believe that podcasts could be so important for foreign language classrooms. There is rarely an instant where students get to see hands on the use of the langauge while in the classroom. I believe podcasts are useful also because students are so used to using phones and ipods that incorporating them into instruction can make the lesson more interesting for the student. Many of the videos and technolgy used in foreign language classrooms today is so outdated, it uninterest students and students become more preoccupied with what they look like than what they are saying.
M'hammed Abdous, Margaret M Camarena, Betty Rose Facer. (2009). MALL Technology: Use of Academic Podcasting in the Foreign Language Classroom. ReCALL : the Journal of EUROCALL, 21(1), 76-95. Retrieved February 14, 2009, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 1638362631).

Games, Virtual Reality

I am so fortunate to have grown up with the new technology as they have come out. My first game I ever owned was the original Sega game system. I would have never imagined that when I started playing Sega, and started playing super Mario brothers, that the virtual world would change around us. Games have gotten better graphics, they are easier to use, and they are so much quicker.
I have not really had the chance to use much virtual reality in my lifetime. Though I know the basics, children and teens have gotten so used to these technology that it would be almost silly not to use the technology in our classrooms. If they are going to help the students feel more hands on than it is a great technology to use.
As a french major a Virtual reality world would be a great tool to allow students to communicate with another classroom from a french speaking part of the world. Imagine how much faster it would be than sending them in the mail. As new technology comes out, it is so important to see how they can be used in a classroom and not just as something they use on their free time. They need to understand the rules behind these virtual worlds too to stay safe and away from people who misuse the Internet. I think they are all great possibilities.

Technology has substantial influences on education. ISTE is a great resource when learning how to use technology in the classroom. As a teacher I hope to be able to use technology much more effectively than my teachers did when I was in school. Technology was so misunderstood and computers were so outdated. Teachers need more opportunity to be taught how to use technology in better ways. Talking to fellow teachers in your field is also important. Teachers just out of college usually have just been updated and have used the current technologies out there. Being able to communicate with them is important because they may be able to help you use a technology in a better way. I think it is such a big problem with older teachers, that as new technologies come out, they take so long to learn about the new technology that they are often outdated by the time someone becomes comfortable on them. I just feel it is so important to start understanding technology and stop being afraid of it.