In this next installment of Obaratone's blog, we look at some wikis, blogs, and podcasts that can be beneficial for students studying in social studies area. Before I begin, let me say that there are many resources out there that can be used, but these are some that I felt really let you in on how this technology can be used.
The blog that stood out to me was the LJHS blog (http://ljhs.wordpress.com/). This blog was created for an 8th grade social studies class. I thought this one was very well done by the teacher. The main thing you notice when you first open the blog is the video of the movie The Matrix. The teacher explains underneath it that the movie is being used in a lesson on philosophy and thought. Under that, he has lessons from that class and lesson that the students used in class. This is useful in a few ways: the students can always go online and get the lesson; the parents can go on and follow along if they wish so they don't ask any questions about what exactly their kids are doing; and other teachers can go on and get ideas if they want them. The blog also has helpful links on the right side to other teachers' blogs and historical websites. It also has the Twitter feed from the class if the students want to join Twitter and follow the class. Overall, a great way to integrate technology into the classroom and make the learning meaningful. The students can interact and cooperate with the teacher actively.
The wiki I found very helpful was a simple thing. It can be found at http://www.academicblogs.net/wiki/index.php/History . Basically, it's a list of history blogs that are being maintained by teachers or other academics. If at any point you want your students to find a blog of history or to try and find other positions on certain topics, the students can peruse this wiki and search through the blogs that are there. It also list other wikis that may further explain the blogs or topics. This is good for student research and also for teachers who want to find other opinions about history. This can also give students good ideas about a wiki of their own or how technology can be useful in classrooms.
The podcast I found comes along with a slew of podcasts . The specific podcast I am writing about is called Great Speeches of the 20th Century. The only drawback is that it does cost money to listen to all of the podcasts. If teachers can get a hold of this, however, it is a great way to have students interact firsthand with speeches. The teacher could have the students listen to the speech and then come up with their own opinion or reaction to the speech they heard. The great thing about this is that students would not have to read the speech and then think about it. They get to experience it like people would when the speech was first done. You can gauge their reactions on listening to it, which would be more beneficial then a reading reaction. That's not how the people first heard it did it.
These are just a few resources that I found on the internet. Of course, there are many more that can be used as well. All of these things inhibit meaningful learning. The podcast allows the students to interact firsthand with the speech in an authentic way. The wiki has students intentionally looking for other blogs and sites for their own research and learning. The blog allows students to cooperate with the teacher and be active within the class. These are all great ways technology can be integrated into the classroom. The students will love making a wiki about the class or other topics! Just make sure your wiki page is not written by the students.
-JPO
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wow! the matrix? in school? what could be more compelling? good point about parental involvement-with a website the parents can learn about all their kids are involved with in class.
ReplyDeletetoo bad that podcast you like doesn't support free speech....get it? anyway, maybe as a teacher you could get a discount on that podcast to help your students.
I happened upon the LJHS blog, too, and I agree with you. This lesson looked really interesting and I bet it fostered good discussion among the students. Integrating technology AND pop culture can be great ways to reach today's students.
ReplyDeleteI checked out the 'matrix' blog website also and it seemed very engaging. That teacher has definitely found a way to reach his students in a cool way. Just wait until he gets a hold of the District 9 movie. I think you could base a number of classes on the issues in that movie. Oh Wait! I just remembered that movie is rated R.
ReplyDeleteThe podcast you found also looked very helpful to expose students to the many great speeches from the past. Maybe a school district would be willing to give a few dollars to sign up for it.