Ch. 14- Unleashing Potential with Emerging Technologies

                While reading this chapter, I couldn’t help but laugh at all the parts where the author was describing a technology that is very common now. MySpace was one that really cracked me up, simply because it is essentially obsolete now. I also personally think that most teachers know what a blog is nowadays, especially considering the fact that most of my English teachers have asked us to use a blog at one time or another (hint hint… this class right now!). I definitely feel that blogs are a very good resource for allowing students to think through their ideas and thoughts that they have in class or while going through a reading assignment. I am not only rather shy and dislike speaking in class, but I am also very absent-minded, and writing my thoughts in a blog after reading is a great way for me to get my thoughts down before I forget them all upon returning to class. I also like the idea of the students being under the pressure of a larger audience to motivate them to use better writing. When a student knows that his or her writing is going to be on display for other people to see, they are far more likely to take pride in the work that they do rather than blowing it off and throwing out a random answer at the end. Plus, the idea of not having a specific number of posts to make is very appealing to me, for that same reason. Students are a lot more likely to have meaningful posts if it is written when they really have something to say, rather than in response to a question posed by someone else.

                Another idea that I had not really thought about was the podcast method. I think that recording the group discussions is an incredible idea, especially when a particular group has a very good discussion that should be shared with the rest of the class. Sometimes the best answers come out in those small groups, where shy students are not so intimidated and all of the students have the ability to bounce ideas off of one another without being overwhelmed by such a large group. Recording these sessions would also give me a great insight into the thoughts of my students and give me a chance to make sure that everyone is participating in those discussions and staying on task. I am not sure how I would go about using these ideas in a science classroom however, and I would really like some input on the matter (perhaps from Jess!) as to how I could do that.