In class today we learned about and set up accounts with Science Sim. I'm not big into the whole virtual world/avatar stuff but, it was interesting to learn about nonetheless. We were informed that this program or ones like it would be useful in a classroom for a few different reasons. It can give some students (probably junior high or high school) a chance to practice with landscape design. For younger students in elementary school, a teacher could use this for a virtual field trip or to provide students with an opportunity to role play and portray a variety of characters in a different environment or world.

Because I knew very little, it was difficult to figure out how to move and control my avatar. I still can only do basic movements...sometimes. If I was to use this in my future classroom, I would definitely have to practice and explore with the program and features more. This isn't something that I would have ever thought of to use in the classroom but I can see and appreciate the opportunities it can provide and open up for students.

Online Surveys

Today we learned about posting and sending online surveys. I never cease to be amazed and awestruck at how much there is that can be used on Google and with email. The online surveys were pretty simple to create and send out. It was easy to look up the results too. This would be so helpful to use in a classroom. Surveys could easily be sent out to students or even to parents for various purposes. It would be a lot easier to receive the results too. You wouldn't have to worry about the paper getting lost or parents not taking the time to fill it out. I think that they would be more willing and able to fill it out and get it back to you when it's sent to them through email. Sending out these online surveys would also be a great way to get feedback on your teaching or instruction from parents or students. I really like this feature and know that it will be very beneficial for me in my future classroom.

(I posted the site for my survey on my previous post.)

Here is the link to my survey. :)

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dENhV2lUcHU5czhZVTYtV09nQm5MM2c6MA

Learning about how to use and fill out a spread sheet was very insightful and is something that I definitely appreciate learning. Knowing how to keep track of students' scores and grades will be much easier using a spreadsheet like we learned about today. The formula thing gave me a little trouble and wasn't working the way I think it should have been. It's a useful tool once you can figure it out though. :) This is especially true for me when math and I are not always the best of friends. I never really knew how to use a spreadsheet before so I'm glad that I am more familiar with it now.

I think the online/live audience polling is spectacular! It's a fabulous way to integrate technology into the classroom and to get instant and live feedback. We actually do it in one of my other classes and it's so fun to see the results almost instantly. This would be a great thing to use in the classroom and I think it's definitely something that students would enjoy being able to do and participate in.