Week Six

Dr. Alice Christie's Google Earth Guide


Google Earth Guide

I decided to talk about the google earth portion of Dr. Christie's site. I am already fairly familiar with google earth and decided I could be a decent judge what she had to share about it. I really enjoyed her virtual tour. She highlighted some interesting spots around the globe that really made you interested in seeing more. It really shows another side of google earth, in that it is not only educational, but can also be fun in the classroom.

Her description of google earth was very basic and simple to understand, but at the same time quite comprehensive. It was not complicated or difficult to understand, and yet you could really get all the information that you need to know about the application from this one page. Not that there isn't much more to google earth, but she shares more than enough to get you interested.

iTunes U

iTunes U

iTunes U is a great tool that is available at the iTunes store. If you can download music on iTunes, than you can easily use iTunes U, and if you are not familiar with iTunes, you still should have no trouble learning, as it is very user friendly. This is great for teachers who are learning to use technology for the first time.

iTunes U offers a diverse selection of educational materials including podcasts and lectures. You can find information by topic, or you can search for materials by school or group. Once you have downloaded the track or tracks that you are interested in, you can put them on your iPod and view them whenever and wherever you choose.

As a teacher, we will be able to share these materials with our students, and even learn new things ourselves. You can easily bring this into the classroom setting, or have your students access the material at home. This is an awesome and diverse tool that I will definitely utilize in the future.

iPods in the Classroom


iPods in the Classroom

iPods are obviously amazing tools with several uses, and many that I'm sure are have yet to be discovered. They are already making their ways into the classroom. According to Robert Craven, education technology coordinator for the Orange County Department of Education in California, they are already making an impact on schools in his County.

As someone who grew up struggling with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), I can clearly see the benefit of being able to hear or watch a class lesson more than once, or just being able to back up a few minutes to hear the part you missed. I really wish that I had these options coming up in school, and as a teacher I will be glad to offer them to my students.

You can find out in the article "iPods in the Classroom" by Susie Meserve at
http://www.schoolcio.com/ShowArticle/1014