Educating New Tech Users

This week I am really excited about an idea I had for my Multimedia/Hypermedia educational software project.  My 6th grade students this year are part of the Talent21 grant and each student recieved a netbook to travel with the entire day and use for educational purposes.  At the beginning of the school year we were overwhelmed with managing logistics, installing hardware and software, and overall implementing the grant in less than 3 months.  Now that we have a moment to breathe and really think about how our students our using the technology and all the safety challenges that come with it, I think the programs we used last year to educate our students on Web Literacy, CyberSafety, and overall care of a netbook were rushed and could be improved.

My idea is to use the project to educate the students on all three topics, but I am brainstorming to come up with a list of goals and objectives.  What does a 6th grader need to know when we put a netbook in front of them that can connect to a global interface such as the internet?  I would love feedback or suggestions!!!

New Semester

I was nervous to start the Spring semester of 2011.  Last semester taking the intro class was challenging.  It was definitely a big learning experience.   I was worried about the expectations of two classes.  After attending the first classes for both, I feel much better about the amount of work and the professors expectations. 

I am actually excited to complete the projects for both classes.  I think that Multimedia will allow me to complete a projet that will enhance our Talent21 grant and teach me skills that I could both pass on to my students and use in my lessons. 

Theory will be interesting because I considered going into educational psychology and I am interested in learning about how people learn.  I hoping that by understanding how people learn better, I will be able to improve my classroom techniques and engage my students in new and exciting ways.

It's funny because I catch myself now looking for ways to incorporate technology.  I am attending an East Asian Studies Seminar at Princeton, and while attending today I was thinking about how if we were in a lab we could actually view more samples of the art we were looking at today, and possibly find more resources than copies of textbook chapters. 

Here's to a good semester!!!!!!!