Let it Snow

Thanks to a snow storm, I was unable to get to work on Monday, so my group decided that we would meet during the day so we would have more time to get our assignments done. We went over what the constructivist approach to education was. I like the constructivst approach and how it builds on knowledge the students already possess. One of the big disadvantages that we found with this theory is that some students have difficulty applying knowledge from the past in new situations and that everyone learns differently. I feel that this theory is interesting and could work because it lets teachers encourage creativity, it also focuses on student centered learningg. It lets you incorporate student interests into lessons and is more flexible.

For the project of the week, we split our group of four into two groups and half worked on the power point and the other half worked on the presentation. We set a time limit and met back online to discuss what we had done. I think that this worked out well and made getting our work done more efficient. Two of us did the oral presentation and the other two did the visual, then we came together to discuss our efforts and talk about the lesson plan. I liked learning about the 5 E's because it made it easier to do and understand a lesson plan.

A Map of our Life

This week we presented a power point to the class. It was different prsenting over the internet then it would be in a normal classroom. I think that we did a very good job on our power, the only thing that we should have done was to put our resources in APA format. We did not realize this until class on Monday. We also should have had a slide with a list of questions for the class so that they could participate. Other then that, our group worked very well together. I feel that we all carry our weight, and I don't think that I would be able to get through the class without them. My favorite part of chapter was learning about how to keep your child safe on the internet and warn them about the risk of online bullies.
I also found Dr. S's presentation on Web 2.0 to be very interesting. I liked seeing her power point and learning about Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0
This weeks homework included making a Mind Map. I used Illumination. I found that it was easy to use and I was able to navigate through it without much trouble. The only thing that I found it hard to do was maneuver the arrows to make the map look the way I wanted it to. I liked the selection of photos and that it had so many template options. I think that this is a good program that can be used in a classroom for a lesson. I also explored a few of the other Mind Map programs.