Web 2.0 Resources in the Classroom
As I pointed out in my last blog (7/2/2013) physical
education and health has been put on time restraints in many school systems due
to increase academic pressure in core subjects to reach benchmarks on
standardized testing, therefore, learning to use resources like web 2.0 to
increase online content could be very helpful.
My own child will be entering high school this year where they are
teaching an integrated class call LIFE PE that students take the entire year
and receive state credit requirements for health, driver’s education, and physical education (Nivada Spurlock, Chairman Physical Education, Homewood School
System). To accomplish this the school system is
using a combination of “hybrid learning where the course is a mixture of online
and face-to-face delivery” (Roblyer and Doering, 2013, p. 207). For example, the health component is taught
entirely through on-line modules.
According to “keeping pace”, hybrid learning is the “fastest
growing segment of k-12 online learning (Roblyer and Doering, 2013,
p.212). As distance learning increases
education systems must keep in mind characteristics of successful distance
learners such as responsibility and self-organization ability of students. Furthermore characteristics of effective distance learning instructors such as course planning, verbal and non-verbal presentation skills, ability to use strategies, and ability to coordinate several internet sites for student activities need to be kept in mind.(Roblyer and Doering,
2013, p.213).
Using web 2.0 resources embrace the technology world
students of today are growing up in; therefore, instructors must keep
pace. Interacting with files online in
recent years has expanded with tools such as icloud and drop box (Roblyer and
Doering, 2013, p.220) which makes sharing much easier for students and
instructors in online learning. Sending
instructions or assignments through email was the only option a few years ago
in online instruction. However, now
instructors can use blogs as their main communication points with links to web
2.0 resources like in this week’s assignments (glogster, animoto, blabberize), websites,
tweets, wiki lesson plans, Prezi presentations and many other internet options (Roblyer and Doering, 2013, p.222). The
web 2.0 resources like glogster (1 page), and short videos (30 seconds) like
animoto, blabberize with animals talking are good examples of tools that can be
embedded into a blog. These presentations are short
which I think helps keep students attention and can be used to
introduce an entire unit of study or simple lesson plan in a fun way.
That little squirrel is too cute! As always I enjoy reading about how you tie these assignments into physical education. Growing up we just played outside or in the gym but its cool to see how technology can be used to teach necessary fundamentals in an interesting way!
ReplyDeleteI was going to comment on your squirrel also- such a cute idea! And I think your animoto is really good also. The food pyramid lesson is a great idea and practical for all levels.The video in your Glogster is also really good and I think students can learn a lot from watching it along with reading the information on your Glog.
ReplyDeleteEd,
ReplyDeleteI agree that online learning will allow students to take more classes that may not be available at their school. Also, I think the hybrid learning is a really great way and K-12 institutions are taking advantage of this training of technology for learning (Roblyer and Doering, 2013, p. 207). Additionally, web 2.0 allows instructors and students to have interaction as in the traditional classroom (p. 222). Today, using technology is the norm for our students, so as teachers we must use web 2.0 resources to keep them engage and as a means of communication.
Reference
Roblyer, M .D. & Doering, A.H. (2012). Integrating Educational Teaching
Technology into Teaching (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson