Week Five

In video clip – Using Technology to Teach Reading, the technologies used in it are Computers, internet, web sites, Kurzweil, Excel, WebQuest, videos. Teachers used computers, internet and web sites to improve students’ interest and confidence in reading and they used them to find useful information and write reflections and reviews. Kurzweil is used to listen, read and then write their own ideas on certain events. Students also used Excel to graph some of the statistics of different battles in the civil war to better understand it. WebQuest is used to help students search the right place and get the right information. Students also watched the videos like the Gettysburg’s battle and learn in detail about it.

All the technology-related activities can greatly help students improve their interest first and they can become more focused on what are they doing because of different technologies adopted. By using the all the technology-related activities, students can gain a deeper understanding of the historic event and they are also trained to develop their own ideas and opinions of the history. In this way, they can form their own opinions and write freely. In the end, they can get more confidence in reading and writing and make great improvement later.

To better understand the historical event, the teachers did bring other subject areas into this lesson and this proved to be very efficient. They first used cartoons in the course. Students were shown some cartoons and then asked to make cartoons and in this process, they can improve their understanding of the thing they are going to describe. By sharing with others, they can also learn more. Music and songs were also used during the class. Since songs they listened represented a great part in that history, so listening to these songs would greatly help them understand the history at that time. Politics was also mentioned in class and actually politics is always part of history. By reading and learning the different politics, they could relate to what they had learned and got a better understanding of the fact.

As a teacher in the classroom, I found that students could get more interested and gain more confidence in what they have learned. By using the different technologies, the students were greatly inspired and they got access to the materials in various ways, which definitely enhanced their understanding. The different tools used in the class will also broaden students minds and they did not only understand what they learned, they could also apply the way of learning and thinking in their future learning and lives.

In the video clip—Using a Class Web Page for Learning, the teacher used one very useful tool for teaching French, the WebQuest. She first explained all the steps to students and let them research for some information related to French language and culture on their own. In this way, students are taught not only the language itself, they also learned the research skills using the internet. The teacher also attached the WebQuest to her class web page in which students could get their homework and sent E-mail to teacher if they met with problems. In her class web page, she put two languages there, the French and the English and students could freely choose to use either of them. After students had done with searching, they would need to summarize it and then present it to all the others, using PowerPoint, video or other medium. In this way, students can greatly improve their interest in French learning and get to the language and culture in an easier way.

This teacher is really creative in using technology in her language teaching and she is speaking good French WebQuest is indeed one very useful tool. She attached to her web page and she is really using it in a very effective way for students to learn language and culture. She emphasized the reading and wring and also helped students to learn much about the French culture. Besides this, I think she also needs to put more multimedia materials on her page, so that in this way, students can make improvement in their listening and speaking at the same time. Besides asking students to make a presentation in PowerPoint or video, I think the teacher can also ask students to record their brief oral presentation of their search result in French and then upload it in her web site. In this way, students would benefit from the project in all dimensions. Since the teacher has her own web site, she can also list a lot of E-books which fit students’ level and they can read widely. She can also conduct a weekly test online and that would be easier for both teachers and students.

I think students became quite interested in this way of learning French language and culture. They could do their own research and find out whatever they like and then use it in their project. They also challenged themselves to do an excellent job. But I think some students might feel this task is overwhelming to them. Some said they had never written that big before, so this task might be too difficult to some of them according to their level. They also wanted to use online dictionary to translate or even wanted to write in English first and then did the translation, which are not ideal methods in learning a foreign language.

Usually when we mention about the foreign language learning, we usually picture reading a novel, remembering words or articles, or writing a piece of composition. But nowadays, technology is playing an important roll in foreign language learning and it has more potentials. Technology can make language and culture learning an interesting thing. Rather than only reading books to find information, students can get all that information from a variety of resources, like digital videos, internet resources, etc. Technology can also ensure that students learn the pure language. Rather than only following teachers with accent, they can learn the language directly from native speakers online. They can watch, listen to their language or even chat with native speakers through the internet, or telecommunication. With technology, students can acquire many resources in diverse formats and broaden their minds. Technology will definitely make foreign language learning more interesting and effective.

Week Four

After viewing the clip – Virtual Chemistry Labs, we can really see that there are at least three advantages of using simulations in a chemistry lab. The first advantage is the safety issue. We all know that doing chemical experiments is quite a dangerous thing. If the students are experimenting in the real lab, they are exposed to various dangers like exploding, because it is hard to imagine what will happen during the process. The second advantage is that the simulation offers convenience to both teachers. With simulation, teachers can save their time by giving fewer instructions. The virtual experiment saves a lot of time and there is almost no cost in the equipment. The third advantage is that the simulations simplify the experiment for them. They can just click a button and then they will see what is happening so that they can easily apply what they have learned in the virtual experiment.

Simulations in other fields will also offer people a lot of benefits and advantages. The first advantage for the use is that simulations can greatly save budget. Some experiments or tests need to be carried out in remote places or in another country or they need a lot of expensive materials to make it through. With simulation, students and teachers don’t have to go to other places or buy the expensive raw materials, they can just carry it out in front of the computers by clicking and this is definitely a great save of money. Like what is mentioned above, simulations can greatly reduce the risks of making dangerous experiments. Students don’t have to carry it out in persons and they can just do the experiment and see the results in front of the computers. Next advantage is that students can get the instant result from the simulations. For example, in some certain experiments like the growing of buds, it will take several months to know the result, but in simulation, students can get the result immediately. The last advantage is that simulations can also greatly arouse students’ interest. Doing some kinds of experiments can be dangerous or impossible, but with simulation, they can take the experiment and feel almost the same as what is going on, which would certainly open students’ minds and greatly increase their interest in it.

Many academic fields can take advantage of computer simulations to facilitate their teaching and learning. In scientific research and study, they can use the simulations to speed up their experiment, get a fasters result, save budget, etc. In some other fields like historical event, which can not be replayed, and study on this field can use simulations to unscramble history. Another field which I see great feasibility in computer simulations is the language study. Not all the language students can find the native speakers to practice their language. If they can be offered the intelligent simulation in which conversations can be made, they would greatly improve their language skills.


In the video clip – A Dinosaur WebQuest, several advantages were mentioned in using WebQuest in teaching. The first advantage is that students learned how to use computers. To use WebQuest, they first have to get familiar with the computers so that they can freely use the computers to find the resources. They also learned how to use the internet and they could freely surf the internet to find what they need. The second advantage is that students enhanced their communication and cooperation. In order to get the detailed information, they have to share their information with each other and this greatly increases class communication and collaboration. The third advantage from using the WebQuest is that students improved their oral communication skills. They were asked to make presentation after the WebQuest and this would get the chances to practice their oral skills. The last advantage of using WebQuest is that students can save a lot of time because most of the web sites are pre-selected so that they don’t need to explore the whole internet to find the information.

If a WebQuest is not used in learning, students might meet with some problems. The first is that they may not gather enough information and materials on the topics they are discussing. If they can not use the WebQuest, they have to use what they have at hand and they may have insufficient resources to carry on. The next problem is that they may waste a lot of time. If they don’t use the WebQuest, some of them may choose to search and explore the whole internet, which is filled with so many information and it is hard to find the right one within a short time. The last problem is that they might have too many distractions while searching. WebQuest is usually a collection of pre-selected websites and students can easily find the materials there. But if they are searching on the whole internet, they are too many excessive links on various subjects, and sometimes it might take students a long time to get back.

WebQuest is a good way to make effective use of the vast information resources available on the Web. It can help students to engage in a wide range of activities that make good use of Internet-based resources. It can offer students a problem-solving way of study and they can know how to solve problems after using the WebQuest. Students also get a chance to improve their computer skills like computer manipulation, word processing, etc. Students can also improve their collaboration while using WebQuest to collect and share different materials and resources.

If I were to design a WebQuest in my teaching, I will find the most suitable developing tools to make the design easier. If there are some good templates available, I may also try to choose from the templates to save some time and efforts. I will also provide clear and specific topics for students and I will also offer the best quality resources. I will also design the clear rubrics and requirements for them to follow.

Week Three

In the video clip—Using Handhelds in the Classroom, mainly two ways in using handheld computers to teach were mentioned. The first one used it for science. Students used palms to draw graphs like circles to build up and develop their ideas. The other use is that people can have many programs like Sketchy put onto their palms and problems can be solved.

One of the advantages of the handhelds over laptops is that they are quite cheaper. Since handhelds they use will not connect to the internet or play the videos so the kids can focus on what they are learning and they have fewer distractions.

I personally believe that the application of wireless technology in classroom is an unavoidable trend in education because it has many advantages and can greatly facilitate teaching and learning. The first advantage of it is the portability. Since all the equipments are wireless, teachers and students can take them anywhere they like, and classroom activities will not be confined to their seats and there will also be more communication. Another great advantage of it is the high comfort level brought to teachers and students. If teachers and students are becoming more comfortable in the classroom, teachers can effectively provide more information to students and students can focus more on the content they are learning.

With the development of the wireless technology, the traditional way of education will be greatly changed. More and more courses will be offered online and students can arrange their schedule easily since they can take the course anytime and anywhere.

In the video clip—Classroom Management Software, all the teachers and students are discussing one useful online tool, the Class Server. With Class server, teachers can create resources, assignments, activities, and then add all the materials to server via the teachers’ website. Teachers can also assign different tasks to different students. On the students’ tool of the class server, they can easily get access to the assignment. They can finish their assignments and get their feedback immediately. Via the server, parents can also find out the progress of their kids and get to know how their children are doing in school.

This tool definitely offers teachers, students and parents various advantages. To the teachers, this class server can greatly reduce their time and efforts with the students’ assignments. They don’t have to correct students’ assignments that much since the system can automatically correct students’ assignments and offer students the feedback. This online process can also save much paper for no paper work needs to be given. Teachers can easily design the customized assignments to different students easily. To the students, this system can offer them more interaction and they become more and more interested in the assignment. Whenever they finish the assignments, they can also get the feedback immediately. They can also learn the course content easily. To the parents, it is easier for them keep track of their children’s progress in school.

I definitely hold a positive view towards the use of the class server in school. It can greatly benefit all with its interactive feature and this would facilitate the teaching and learning process in a better way. Students can become interested in it and they can greatly concentrate on what they are learning. Instead of spending a lot of time correcting students’ assignments, teachers can save the time to think more to develop the course. This is a catalyst to the traditional way of teaching and learning.

Of course, the system may not be perfect to all. For some teachers with less computer literacy, they may find that the system is overwhelming to them and they may have a hard time in using it or even reject it. There might also be some technical or internet problems during the whole process. With internet access, some kids may also be distracted by some other content on the internet and then fail to focus on or accomplish all the assignments.

Week Two

In Clip 2—Learning the Rules for Computer Use, the teachers were trying to teach students the rules for computer use. But when teachers were preparing to teach the use of computers, they mainly met with two problems. The first problem is that they did not have enough computers for students. In their classroom, they only had 14 computers while there were 20 students together. To overcome this problem, the teachers divided students into several groups with 2 members in each group. They also found a good way to divide them—using cards. Students were all given colored cards and students getting the same color card would bring chairs together to one computer.

Another problem they encountered was that a lot of teachers did not know much about how to use computers at first and many of them were not used to keyboarding, so they had to learn how to teach it to students and since most of them had computers at home, they could learn it at home and get more advanced when they get to school.

No pain, no gain is a good idiom that applies to every field. If you don’t spend efforts to make proper plans, you can hardly accomplish anything. People should always plan carefully before acting, even in small and trivial things. I had an embarrassing experience due to the careless planning. Once I visited a scenic spot with my girl friend, we did not think there was too much need for making a detailed plan since it was just for fun. So we brought the water, food, and enough cash and drove happily to the place. But when we got there, we found out that we forgot the camera, which is also one important ingredient in our trip and you can imagine that it is a tour without any good pictures left.

Another ill planned incident happened in my first year as a teacher. We would practice listening that day and I had planned well with a lot of listening materials and some short movie clips I made. But when I started the computer in the classroom five minutes before the class, I realized that I did not bring my hard drive in which I put all my teaching materials. Instead I had to play a film for them, which students enjoyed a lot but I had to make another appointment with students to catch up with the schedule.


Clip 11—adaptive technology opens up a new world of information for people who find it difficult to use common computer. Adaptive keyboards can be used by people who have control over one hand or just one finger. Actually the adaptive keyboard not only provides a way for students with disabilities to get access to the computer or internet, it also offers teachers to design lessons according to their specific needs and it will enable teachers to design a curriculum that especially fits students’ requirements and demands. Students can just easily type several words or letters and some certain prediction programs would offer them word choices and then the words will pop up for students to choose.

Before viewing the video clip, I did not think that the technology could offer students with special needs so many conveniences. The technology could almost meet whatever needs of them and enable them to use the computers and get the same access to the internet as the normal students. There is not much difference between them the normal students and with the help of technology, and students with special needs can actually learn and study at almost the same pace as the others and this would greatly improve their learning efficiency.

Of course, the students with special needs might be the major group of using the adaptive technologies, but they are not the only ones who can benefit from the adaptive technologies. All the other students or teachers can also use the adaptive or assistive technologies to enhance their learning and make learning and study easier in another way. Old individuals would also be the perfect users of the adaptive technologies, due to their inconvenient movement, poor eye sight or disability to do other things, and the adaptive technologies would give them more opportunities to get access to various information.