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SETA
REFLECTION Jeanie
Bykerk
I absolutely loved the SETA conference; I found it very informative about
all the new technology out there today that will encourage our students to want
to learn. Even the Introduction at the beginning I found was very interesting.
For example the SB Global positioning that you are able to hook into your laptop
and then found out where you are and where you want to go. Like Mark Billington
said that is very interesting for younger kids to play with, finding out where
they are and where they want to go and how to get there. There is now a drawing
board that people are able to draw on that has a touch sensitive pen so the hard
you push the darker your line is. With the drawing board coming out for cheaper
with a wire attached to it so that kids are able to use it without parents or
teachers worrying about it being lost is wonderful. Kids are able to draw and
experiment with different ways of creating art. So for the student that
doesn’t always like to do it the old fashion way you are now able to pull out
a drawing pad for them to draw on. Then you hook it to a computer (that is
hopefully in your classroom) and the student is able to see the picture that
they have created. I also attended the Smart Board, which I thought was amazing.
The Smart Board comes in all different sizes but it basically looks like a
screen that you hook to a computer and so more people are able to view it at one
time because the Smart Board could be mounted on the wall. Not only is it a
viewing screen but students are able to write on it and then print out the
things that they have written on the screen either with their fingers or with
the touch sensitive pens so they are able to write with different colors. If as
a teacher or a student you don’t like your handwriting you take it to the
Smart Board software and there you are able to turn your writing into computer
text, changing the style, positioning, color, size, and all with your fingers.
As a teacher you don’t have to be the only one controlling the screen anymore
people are able to use their fingers like a mouse directly on the screen. As a
teacher you don’t have to worry about how everyone is going to fit around the
screen anymore, you just bring up the document that you saved last night onto
the computer and bang you have it on the Smart Board as well. Then the students
can write on it, you are able to make notes on it and print paper out with the
notes on the document that you made the night before. At first I wondered though
if students are able to control what they are doing and where they are going,
what if they get into something that they are suppose to or they are writing
something on the screen that they are not suppose to be writing. A person
sitting at the computer that it is hooked up to is able to see what they are
doing and writing without having to stare directly at the Smart Board, you can
just glance at your computer screen. I think that this will really improve the
classroom and the interactions of the students.
I also attended the New Word-Literacy presentation where I learned about
books that are coming out that have links for the Internet. The books that are
produced by Usborne have many small pictures as well as small groupings of text
so that it is geared for all students. When the kid picks up a book they are
thinking I am going to be bored out of my mind and put the book down. Usborne
Books have books for not only the younger generation but they also have books
that are geared more to the high school generation. Usborne Books get the
students to start reading as well as interacting on the Internet. Looking up the
different information that is linked to the books.
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