20103_One Minuet Message

BP12_20103_One Minute Message #2

BP9_20103_ Web2.0Tool3

Timelines help students to understand history they also assist in giving the student the knowledge of what happened and how much time passed by between events. Timelines are an important aspect of any social studies lesson plan. Putting information into context so the students will have a better understanding of the sequence of events and how those events affect the present and future outcomes of se events. Helping to give students a larger picture of events in history in relationship to other events which took place during that time period and the possible outcomes and effects on the event.

I start every new semester and class by creating a timeline in the classroom that will then hang in the classroom for students to see, (The students themselves will create the time line.) A useful tool created by the students. A group project using a role of butcher-block paper, and color marks. The time lines starts with a line running down the center length of the paper. The students with different colors will add different eventsin relationship to the centerline.

Application such as Xtime lines helps the student to create interactive timelines that to help students explore and create free time lines, which are produced on the computer. Those time lines can then be shared between students and the teacher. I would intend that students using the computer generated line would gain pre-knowledge of the events that are to be studies and then as a group project the students would then create the time line that in the classroom. The students creating their own time lines that are then compared and collaborated on with other students before the art project would help to eliminate the direct teacher learning in the project allowing students to take more responsibility and ownership of the project.

The Xtime line application is easy to use and navigate in, allowing for the free tool to be used by teachers and students alike.

BP11_20103_Comment on Collette's blog Tika Toc

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BP8_2010032_One Minute Message-#1

BP5_2010032_Webtool l2.0_Google Earth

The Google Earth Program allows the teacher or student to take the participant out of the classroom, bringing the outside world in to that learning experience making any project or lesson plan a personal occurrence.

Utilizing the Google Earth application, students and educators can view satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D images that put the world's geographic information at the students or teachers instant access. Students can see the world from a different point of view, which makes learning interactive and interesting.

A feature of Google Earth that I feel will be extremely valuable in preparing interactive lesson plans in a social studies class, the ability to record lesson specific customized tours of historic places and maps which the instructor and students can share with the class, the teacher or others. A tour or lesson plan can be created as a movie with recorded audio, produced by the teacher or the student. In the guided tours in the production, the spectator can view the terrain plus content and maneuver in the environment of the lesson plan thereby making the specific lesson personally interactive. As an example, concerning current events a viewer could go from their present location to earth quake ravaged Chile or Haiti, see a 3D view of the location before and after the event to have a better understanding through first hand experience of the impact the earth quake had in the region.

For students and teachers, the tool bar provided in the Google Earth application easily facilitates recording tours and playing them. The application utilizes tools that are the same familiar tools that are used throughout other Google applications, helping to make the program user friendly for the participants.

The Google Earth application research in the Web 2.0 tools will play an integral part in many of the lesson plans that I intend to produce in the feature. I feel the ability of Google Earth application has unlimited potential to make every lesson plan as interactive only limited by time and imagination.

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BP3_2010031_2.0Tool_FillAnyPDF

I chose a number of different tools that I felt would have practical applications  in my classroom. I will discuss,  www.fillanypdf.com. An application which allows the teacher to use any Printable Downloadable File (PDF) and convert it to an interactive form that can also be signed electronically by the parent or guardian of the student. Taking the student out of the loop. For example permission slips for field trips and questionable content media presentations. Email this form to a parent or guardian in order to bypass the students. Taking away the dependability of the student, whom has taken no responsibility, in turn could jeopardize valuable class learning periods and lesson plans. I have find hard to believe, that some students do not want to go on field trips or see content related media which the student knows they will be assessed on. Some students would rather send the time, under their own control or what they anticipate will be their own control. The problem dose remain that not all parents or guardians have access to email, hard to believe but true in rural Vermont.

In addition this form application has the potential for creating all types of homework assignments where you could read the students answers to specific questions. You could use this site for many different applications within a classroom or school. I do believe that with the proper academic research using this form application for tests, quizzes, essay and short answer question could have direct academic implication for using computer based PDF documents.

Included in this Blog is a screen shot of the PDF application that might be used as a template for creating electronically signed PDF files.