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Unit 3: Practically Exploring the Uses of Technology

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introduction

In this section you will be exploring a few pieces of technology commonly used in classrooms. As was mentioned in the previous unit, technology is ever growing. It is thus, impractical to try to master a specific technology. This unit is, however built around learning new technologies (that will be obsolete in four years). Why? In order to properly use technology in classrooms you need to be familiar with it. This means you will have to continually try new things. The good news, once you get a feel for how things work you'll find unfamiliar technology to be easy to learn. The point of this unit is to do just that. To give you a feel for technology and to get you caught up, if need be.


the cloud.

Recently, a new technology, the cloud, has become popular. The cloud enables users to save information to a drive they do not own; a drive that is connected to the internet. Once the use of this is realized, your socks should come off. This means you don't need a physical thumb drive, CD, Floppy Disc, etc. You can work on something at home, go to school and there it is. Dropbox is a well known version of this. Google Drive is another one.

Another use of the cloud is multiple devise synchronization. Look at the picture at the top of this page. Read it from left to right. A phone is used to purchase a new album. That becomes available to the phone right away. The cloud enables that same album on any other devise you have. In this case, a tablet and laptop. No plugging in required. Just buy it on any devise and use it on any devise. Also, if you take a picture with your phone, it is automatically "pushed" to every devise you have synced to the cloud. The advantage of this is of course convenience. The thing you may not have realized is this: What happens when you get a new phone, tablet, computer, etc? All you need to do is sign into your account and presto! Everything you've purchased, contacts, pictures, etc. appears on the new devise.

Watch this video to see Steve Jobs introduce iCloud.

Now you get to try this. I want you to write a quick something in any word processor (Word, Open Office, etc). Then save it to Google's cloud (Google Drive). To do this you need a Google account. If you have Gmail, Google+, YouTube, or any other Google Application you have a Google account. Go to Google and click sign in in the upper right corner. If you do not have a Google account already, create one by clicking sign in, then "create an account for free." Once you are signed in, click "Drive" on the top of the page. This is the "cloud." You can save anything here and access it anywhere with an internet connection. Next, click "Download Google Drive" on the left side of the page. Follow instructions to install it on your computer. Once you are done, open a word processor and write something. Save it to the Google Drive folder (not documents). Now check back to the cloud page (drive.google.com). You will see the document here. In addition, you can install Google Drive on any computer and access file stored in the Google Drive folder without even opening a browser! You need to be signed in to do this, so having multiple Google accounts using a single computer account can get hairy (you basically need to reinstall it every time you want to switch accounts). Google says, "We don't recommend you doing this." Hopefully this will be fixed soon.

answer.
  • What do you think of Google Drive?
  • What are the biggest advantages of it?
  • You can also share files with others by sending them a link. In addition, you can create documents right on Google. Here several users can edit a document at the same time (you actually see them typing). How do you think this can be beneficial for group work?

iPad apps

The iPad can also be used to benefit classrooms. Here, I will get a little more focused on science classrooms. If you have an iPad , iPod touch, or iPhone you can do this. Download Leafsnap (free). If you don't check out this video. Leafsnap allows you to take a picture of a leaf and identify what tree it came from. All you need is a devise and a white sheet of paper. Please download this app and try it out.

answer.
  • What did you think of it?
  • Would you consider using this?
  • Back in unit 2, I mentioned the idea of being able to look up information, rather than memorize it. This is an example of that. Student's do not need to be able to identify trees by memory, rather they can use this app to figure out what a tree is. Is this okay? Pros? Cons?
explore.

Now, I would like you to find an app or two that you think would be useful in the science classroom. You can use the webpage I provided in Unit Two with the top ten apps for science, or find you own. Pleasde share what you find in the "Discussion" section.

Skype

Have you ever used Skype? Do you have any ideas for how you can use it in the classroom? How about bringing in an expert from NASA to talk about black holes? Check out this webpage to see how that is possible. This is a great tool to bring new perspectives and expertise to a classroom with ease.

more

There is so much technology out there, it would take years to explain it all. I encourage you to keep searching for new things. Just jump in and learn!

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