Weather and the world wide web
By: Katy, Kate, Jen, and WendyAs home economics students, we were interested in the child development section of this video. It was interesting to see the reactions of the children and to watch the intense lesson plan that the teacher created to keep the interest of the children. They created a pretend storm, using their hands to snap, clap, and beat the sound of the storm.This was applicable to real life because the night before, they had just had a big thunderstorm. Thus not only were they able to expres their feelings about the storm, and what electricity went out, but they were able to express their emotions with a Paint program on the computer.They used a program called Kidspiration to draw their pcitures of storms. This technology was very intriguing to the children. Since it was new technology, there was a little time taken to explain directions and demonstrate the program. Then the children were able to use this technology as they discussed emotions, necessary clothing, and described their pictures. Then they reviewed what they had taken pictures of with the digital cameras the day before. Then the teacher showed a powerpoint review of the unit. Thus they were able to tie the weather unit together with several forms of technology that enhanced their learning capability. They weren't simply learning new technology, they were learning new subject matter through the use of technology.
Video Analysis
Katy, Kate, Jen, and WendyWe watched the video Great Team, Great School. We located this video at http://glef.org. We chose this one, because we couldn't find any that related directly to Home Economics.In this video their was a mock hurricane simulator. This emergency simulator allowed students to interact and feel the stress and responsibility of a real life crisis. The students were using the technology and they were so engaged in the learning process that the class was managed by itself. The teachers commented that in the classroom, activities are used to gain knowledge, and in this real life simulation their goal was to save lives.This lesson was focussed more on the subject more than the technology. This is seen because the student were answering phones, watching the simulated storm on a big screen, and making quick decissions, rather than learning how to use this technology.One bad use of technology was the motion sensitive detector that graphed onto a calculator. This technology was intersting and the children were excited to see how it worked. However, it didn't really teach them subject matter, but simply made them more informed about the technology.The video also abided by our rules of thumb, because the students were engaged, and they were also learning real life applications. This was evident as the students built mini cars out of recycled materials, went to car dealerships to evaluate their sales techniques, and had business members come volunteer as mentors. Overall, this video was a great example of how teachers can work as a team and create real life engaging situations that can not only intrest children but teach them.
