Digital Communication

Chelsea HighfillW200 Summer 2009

Peercasting: Students Produce Math Support

at NC Middle School

Videoconferencing:

Broadening Horizons for KSD Deaf Students

You Are There: No budget for travel? Try

video chat.

Conclusion

Peercasting: Students Produce Math Support at NC Middle School

This article is about a teacher who used technology to help her students connect and learn from each other. Nancy Trollinger is an 8th and 9th grade teacher who is utilizing podcasting in her introductory and AP Algebra I classes. These podcasts are a way for struggling students to receive extra help.

Trollinger has her high achieving AP students create podcast tutorials. Introductory Algebra students can then access the podcasts and learn at their own pace. This is a great way to teach students through technology.

Personal Reflection I really like how she is

incorporating podcasting into her classroom. Students only want to listen to a teacher for so long. For struggling students I think that having other students who are learning the same thing that they are help them understand a concept is great. The teacher also has the students create their own podcasts. I like this because the students may come up with a new way of explaining a certain topic that the teacher had not thought of. The explanation that the student came up with may be a better way to teach a student who is struggling.

You Are There: No budget for travel? Try video chat.

In this article Eric Langhorst shows us how we can utilize technology to take field trips without ever leaving the classroom. After visiting the Hall of Signers, Eric realized that showing this place to his students would really make history come alive. His only dilemma was how would he get them from Missouri to Philadelphia.

Eric decided to collaborate with Eli Lesser, director of education at the National Constitute Center in Philadelphia, and create a virtual field trip. Once everything was set up the students were watching while Lesser gave an interactive and personal tour around the museum from 1,000 miles away. Both Langhorst and Lesser accomplished this task by hooking up a webcast system. It was a great and effective way to get students interested in history.

Personal Reflection

I really enjoyed reading this article because it got me thinking about field trips in a completely different way. Watching a video about the hall of signers isn’t nearly as interesting as being able to ask questions and interact with a tour guide who is on site.

“The entire class raised their hands when they had a question and he would call on them, the entire class was able to hear and see the response.”

Videoconferencing: Broadening Horizons for KSD Deaf Students

This article is about one schools determination to better their students education by enhancing the technology on campus. Kentucky School for the Deaf wanted their students to be able to communicate with deaf students from other schools. They began with video conferencing phones to connect with others. “Because sign language is so visual, it is important that we empower our teachers and students with visual technology that will assist them to achieve at the highest levels possible.

While the videophones they were using were great at the time they had certain limitations. They began doing further research in visual communications. They began raising money and were able to work with a company that helped them develop their own custom built video conferencing system. With this they are able to take virtual field trips and interact with other deaf schools around the country.

Personal ReflectionThis is a good article that

talks about a form of adaptive technology. It enables hearing impaired students to interact with a variety of other students and vice versa. I like how this article also ties in with the first article and talks about facilitating field trips with many different places through webcasting.

ConclusionAll of these articles discuss

how teachers have used different forms of technology in the classroom. Articles like these provide knowledge that can be beneficial to teachers all over the world. After reading them I am eager to try them out in my classroom someday and discover new ways of utilizing technology.

Harrison, D. (2009). Videoconferencing: Broadening Horizons for KSD Deaf Students. THE Journal .

Langhorst, E. (2009). You Are There: No budget for travel? Try video chat. School Library Journal .

McCrea, B. (2009). Peercasting: Students Produce Math Support at NC Middle School. THE Journal .