Thursday, June 25, 2009

Blog 1 - Who am I?

Hello everyone my name is Grace Reotutar. I recognize some familiar names from previous classes. I am in the Instructional Technology program and taking this class as one of my electives. I am looking forward to this class and to learning about the various ways mobile technology can be use in education, most specifically, cell phones.

In the past, I have used mp3 players to download lectures so I could listen to it anywhere without the need for a computer. I could even listen to it on my drive to work. The portability of downloading lectures on to your mp3 player eliminates the need for always logging in to your blackboard account to listen to lectures, because you could just download the lectures all at once. I’ve also used my cell phone to send me alerts when the professor had sent me an email. With my alerts set, I don’t need to constantly log on to my email to check for messages from certain people.

I do remember playing the Oregon Trail. I never made it alive, until I played it again last night. I tried the online version that Dr. Newberry posted on blackboard and I still found it fun! I do not remember what the purpose was for that game and I still don't, but it is a lot of fun.

I think some people are not as excited about using mobile technology for learning is because, similar to the computers when it was first introduced in education, it is costly and can become a distraction to students.

2 comments:

  1. Oregon trail was part history, but also it was supposed to help develop higher order thinking skills through planning and decision making.

    Funny how we worry about cell phones etc. being a distraction... I never needed such things to be distracted!

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  2. Hello Grace,

    I never played Oregon Trail, but I did learn that the Oregon Trail instructional design is very constructivist (cognitivist learning theory)

    Check it out. Copy paste this url: http://www.ic.arizona.edu/ic/edp511/isd1.html

    The Oregon Trail is still around, too. I found these lesson plans at A to Z Teacher Stuff's website. Copy paste this url: http://www.atozteacherstuff.com/Themes/Oregon_Trail/

    The following url is an excellent web page, I thought, of a fourth grade teacher and the Oregon Trail. Copy paste this url: http://classes.seattleu.edu/masters_in_teaching/teed521/professor/ssOregonTrailUnit.htm

    Take care!

    Raul

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