Digital Blog Post #C

Chapters 5 & 7

Electronic note-taking in the classroom is a useful way to jot down relevant information.  Not only is it another way to use technology in our everyday life (which people enjoy doing more and more these days), but it is also quite practical in many occasions.  With electronic note-taking web tools like Evernote and OneNote, you do not have to worry about paper getting torn, lost, wet or eaten by your dog (remember those excuses?). It can all be stored in one small device which can be used throughout the day, wherever you are.  Not only can all of your notes be easy, neatly and safely stored, but they can also transfer to other devices within seconds.  Even though electronic note-taking is convenient and easily accessible, there are some criteria to think about in evaluating it as being beneficial for your students.  In this website, The 4Ss of Note-Taking With Technology, you will find out ways to properly assess how electronic note-taking whether or not it can be useful.  There will always be a fine line between regular handwritten note-taking and digital note-taking.  The obvious one being some students may not have a computer or any other devices, or ones that are compatible (or updated).  The biggest argument would be how well does your brain absorb that material using one technique over the other.  I found a video that may help you understand a bit more about the controversy of using paper versus computers.  I am curious to play around with some of these web tools and apps and would like to utilize them in my very own homeschool. Despite controversies, I feel this would be a useful tool for students and teachers.  Below I created an infographic to give a quick outline of electronic note-taking ease of use. However, I could not get the videos within the picture to play.  

Piktochart created by Jerri Thompson

(For a better view of the content, go to my infographic and see through the "Presentation Mode" for the best presentation from Piktochart.)

Google Earth and Google Maps are my most used tools on my phone and laptop.  In the past, I have enjoyed using it for looking at our old house that we used to live in and see how it has changed over the years. I have used it for looking at properties that are for sale and to see what the acreage is like and how the neighborhood is.  I pretty much live off of these tools on a daily basis as I take the kids on field trips and need to know where I am going.  As I read through in Chapter 7 (Maloy, et al., 2013, p.166) about how both are used in the classroom, I was amazed.  It makes perfect sense why Google Earth and Google Maps both can be utilized in an educational way. I found a video (it is about seven years old now but gives you an idea) where a class of fourth graders used Google Earth on a SMART Board to locate missions in a collaborative study.  As you watch the video, notice how the children can navigate to areas on the map and click on dots showing pictures of buildings with information.  I hope you are as intrigued by this video as I was.  As you can see, students can use this for Science, Geography, and Math. What a unique way to give students a way to gather visual data.  Some may feel this is an invasion of privacy due to actual homes and private properties shown.  I can agree that would be an issue only if the information is misused.  However, in a classroom, I cannot see a teacher doing anything of the sort other than looking at public places, landmarks, and areas of land and water.  I am looking forward to seeing what all Google Earth and Google Maps can offer for students in the future.  I am adding this to the list of web tools for our homeschool and future classroom use. 

Game-based learning, or using games for learning, can be an excellent way to help students apply what they have learned by student involvement.  In a generation that is enjoying games on a daily basis whether at home or anywhere accessible, it would only make sense to create something enjoyed by many and make it educational.  Of course, making it not only educational but also enforcing student involvement.  I found an interesting article that explains more in regards to game-based learning called  Game-Based Learning: What it is, Why it Works, and Where it's Going.  Years ago (before homeschooling), my children were already introduced to game-based learning at school.  Educational games such as FunBrain, Poptropica (my kids' favorite), and Cool Math were played in their school. That was probably their favorite part of their school day.  Now that they're homeschoolers, I allow games in the course of their educational needs because I believe that education should be fun and engaging for them.  One day a week, we have “Computer Day” here at home.  I created desktop folders for each of them.  Inside each folder are more folders labeled with different subjects.  These subject folders will take them to links to educational games (including the ones I just mentioned) that are related to that subject.  Let's say that when they click in ‘Language Arts,' they will find 3-4 files (shortcuts to the website) to partake in learning online with game simulations and pop quizzes that offer instant responses for knowing where they went wrong.  Their math folder would have math games, and the art folder would take them to a website where they can draw lines to make an object move across the screen.  One example, my oldest wanted to play the roller coaster game where he had to draw lines and shapes to keep the roller coaster moving fast and get from one side to the other.  If he could not get the lines in the right position, the roller coaster would fall off the cliff and blow up.  It helped my son see where he needed to fix his thinking and create a better track. If I assigned a music lesson, I would then use a website like SFSKids so they can get a lesson on music and hear real sounds of instruments playing.  Simulation games are interesting too. I tried one mentioned in the textbook called StopDisasters! seen in Figure 7.3 (Maloy, et al., 2013, pg. 172).  I found this to be a good online learning game.  I believe that students should learn their role in the community as an adult in helping in times of need and before/after natural disasters.  I played the game to see how educationally it would be for learning.  You can choose from 5 scenarios; the tsunami in South East Asia, a hurricane in the Caribbean, a wildfire in Central Australia, an earthquake in Eastern Medditieranean, and a flood in Eastern/Central Europe.  I chose a wildfire in Central Australia.  Once you click the scenario box, you are asked what difficulty level.  I wanted the easy level as I had never played it before.  A missions introduction pops up and explains what your mission is.  You start off wth a budget of $50,000 and 25 minutes to complete the mission (useful for learning money and time management).  The player has to destroy any fire hazards like dried grass, bushes, and trees which attract fires.  As the player destroys those safety risks, one has to replace and add defenses like fresh green trees that hold in moisture.  Also, add safe buildings for medical needs and shelter for safety which every city should have available.  On the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, you can watch the current conditions, the probability of the natural disaster, so you can see the how much time you have in keeping the area safe.  There was a lot to do with a small amount of time.  Thankfully, I was able to maintain the city safe from the wildfire.  My take on it was that for me as an adult, it seemed to be slightly challenging.  I see where this can be used with older students but not sure about younger children in elementary school (unless they are better at these types of games than me which is possible).  As a parent and home educator, I am grateful that learning can be a fun experience for them.  As a future 21st century teacher, I would allow this in my classroom.  As long as the content and time spent playing are being monitored, and they are gaining something from it, I cannot see why this would not be a great technology tool for the classroom.  

Resources:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Evernote, The workspace for your life's work. (2016). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://evernote.com/?var=1

Microsoft OneNote | The digital note-taking app for your devices. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://www.onenote.com/ 

Frank, T. (2014, October 16). Should You Take Notes on Paper or on a Computer? - College Info Geek. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsb-U8bZpig 

Thompson, J. (2016, February 20). Electronic Note-Taking by Jerri Thompson. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://magic.piktochart.com/output/11420159-electronic-note-taking-by-jerri-thompson 

Google Earth. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://www.google.com/earth/ 

Google Maps. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://www.google.com/maps 

Trybus, J. (n.d.). Game-Based Learning: What it is, Why it Works, and Where it's Going. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.newmedia.org/game-based-learning--what-it-is-why-it-works-and-where-its-going.html 

FunBrain.com - The Internet's #1 Education Site for K-8 Kids and Teachers - Funbrain.com. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.funbrain.com/ 

Poptropica. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.poptropica.com/ 

Cool Math Games. (2016). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.coolmath-games.com/ 

SFS Kids: Fun & Games With Music! (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.sfskids.org/ 

Stop Disasters. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.stopdisastersgame.org/