EME 2040-Blog #6

Hello again! This week I have been exploring different technologies and school websites. When looking at school websites, I looked at Roberts Elementary School. On their school website they have a separate page for each teacher. On the front page there is information about upcoming events, announcements, school contact information, and important documents, etc. When I actually click a teacher’s page, I would have to sign in. There are tabs on each teacher website such as: meet the teacher, student resources, announcements, important documents, and class calendar. If I could sign in, I would be able to see all of this information. This school is K-5^thand is located in Tallahassee. Here is the link: https://www.leonschools.net/roberts

Moving onto the topic of technology, last week I took a class visit to the technology sandbox, which I had no clue even existed. It was a really informative experience and I got to earn about some technology that was new to me. I got to see a 3D printer in action and see some examples of things it could make. I learned how to work a smart board, learned about robotics and programming and about VR and AR. I really learned about how these tools can be used to aid in a traditional classroom environment. I saw an example of how AR can be used to see a cell. You could turn this cube in circles and through the glasses I could see all sides of the cell. This could be very useful in a biology class. Another thing I thought was super cool was the robots, and how they can teach children basic programming skills. The robot learns and develops more personalities as the child learns more and becomes a better programmer. Lastly, Osmo is a simpler technology that can help with math and reading. There are different kits a person can buy and Osmo talks you through math problems, simple spelling, and how to put shapes together to make other things. All in all, this visit was very cool, and is all of these technologies are things I would recommend to people and educators. 

As a future educator, and hopefully Kindergarten teacher, I could see myself using Osmo very frequently. This tool can be used for many subjects and I think that because it talks to the student and helps them through the problem, it can help take some pressure off of the teacher. Osmo says things like “try placing the shape differently” or “flip the shape” and gives the student cues to help them arrive at the correct answer. I think this tool would help me to teach kindergarten and be a fun learning tool for my future students.