Chapter Eight

Chapter Objective- Identify authoring tools that offer a multimedia environment for students to express and communicate their ideas. I feel this is an extremely important objective especially after what we did in last weeks class. As we went from station to station we were able to use (play) with tools that can be extremely useful for students. The most interesting to me personally (and most of the class) was the smart pen. Being a college student and having gone to a private school which stressed education I have learned how important it is to take good notes. By being able to record a professors lecture makes everything that much easier, from being able to go back and check dates for a history class to checking a reference used in-class. After seeing the smart pen in use it seems like almost anything is possible.

Can we (as teachers) use technology too much? With my generation growing up with technology and the younger generations being able to use technology as if it were as easy as reading a Dr. Seuss book. It is hard for me to think of a teacher using technology too much unless they use it in an unproductive way.

Connection to my teaching- As I look forward to being a history teacher one of the most useful ways of learning was watching historically accurate movies. I personally love watching the History Channel for all the useful things you can learn in a short amount of time compared to reading. As a way of catching a students attention I could have them do a project of reenacting a part of history. One of my friends in high-school worked for a company which produced movies and television shows on the Civil War. I know my students would not be able to make as well produced movies but they could have fun with the acting and producing. As a teen-ager my friends and I loved making stupid short films and coming to school in Bozeman I met numerous kids who also had a similar passion as they entered into the film program so I think it is something which would be useful for them to learn and could help further their education in two academic areas at the same time. Especially with the growth in technology we see these days most high-schools are offering multi-media classes in which they learn basics about editing films, taking photos, and other various aspects of the area.