Communication Tools

PBWiki is an application of the Wiki Websites which allows for creating, organizing and linking multiple websites and information together. PBWiki is primarily a collaboration website, it includes websites that can collaborate notes and important facts while also connecting parents, students and teachers.

This video gives a brief overview of how to create and edit a PBWiki:

The PBWiki serves as a superior communication tool for teachers for multiple reasons. It makes learning more efficient. By utilizing the aspects of the website, teachers are able to communicate notes and facts about subjects to all students quickly and also keep parents well informed. The PBWiki is an effective learning tool for students because it requires them to read over and contribute to class discussions outside of class, that can be further analyzed and developed during school hours. In addition, this communication tool has the ability to enhance the learning process because it is a simple way for students to share ideas and have easy access to accurate information and the opinions of their peers. 

The disadvantages of this tool are few, because it is predominately dependent on the Internet, there is always the chance that the technology will fail.  Also, in some areas or school districts, students may not have access to the PBWiki website at home therefore requiring alteration in the dependence of it. Finally, to a person new to technology, this particular website may seem overwhelming and difficult to understand at first. 

In English, this tool could serve very useful. The teacher would be able to post prompts or discussion questions for the class on the website. After it is posted, students would then be able to analyze and develop the questions and post them to the PBWiki.  This way, all students in the class would be able to view and think about the opinions and ideas of their classmates. By using this method, group discussions during class would be undoubtedly more productive, because the students have already had the chance to look at and begin to understand the material. 

Technological Innovations for English Education

I plan to utilize Inspiration as a tool when teaching Secondary English Education. The application allows for creative designs of worksheets, quizzes and organizational instruction. Inspiration can provide a visual aid to understanding concepts and visualizing thoughts. In particular, students can benefit from the concept maps and paper outlines. 

Also, templates such as the Peer Editing template can be used by students when interacting with each other. Inspiration provides these templates in a way that the students can easily edit and revise each other's pieces of writing. 

In addition to organizing and editing writing assignments, Inspiration offers applications such as the Vocabulary Word template. This allows students and teachers a clear and simple way of seeing the definition of words and therefore learning the meaning more efficiently. 

Because Inspiration provides mostly templates for learning and organization, it would most likely be considered an integrated learning system. 

Activities and the 3 E's

Lab Activity Number 5


1. http://quizhub.com/quiz/f-vocabulary.cfm This website proves to be very effective and efficient for students study English. It provides quizes and games for students to test there knowldege of key terms and concepts. Also, becuase it is presented as a game, it allows students to retain the information and learn it quickly.

2. http://highschoolace.com/ace/ace.cfm This website provides a ton of information regarding the various subject areas of a high school student including study guides for Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, English, Foriegn Languages, Math, Physics, U.S History, and World History. Additionaly, within each subject, there are activities, resources, and practice quizes. I found the resources in the English section(http://highschoolace.com/ace/english.cfm) to be effective and enhancing. It is effective because it complies great resources all on the same place for easy access to students. Also, it enhances learning becuase it provides information that students might have otherwise not had the opportunity to view.

3.http://www.lessonplanspage.com/LADontSayUhGame69.htm This particular activity from HotChalk.com creates the "Don't Say Uh Game." This activity requires students to speek for 30 seconds to a minute about a random topic without saying "uh." This will aid students in speaking skills and make them more consicous of using their vocabulary. I would classify this activity as being very effective because it will make students aware of their speech mistakes in a fun way.

Helpful Websites

Three websites that I have found to be helpful are:

http://www.sitesforteachers.com/

http://www.teachersnetwork.org/ntny/nychelp/mentorship/organizations.htm

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

On Sites for Teachers, this link is helpful because it provides alternate links to more useful websites such as songs, free resources and lesson templates. Teachersnetwork.org is a useful website for teachers because it supply's a lot of basic information.  For example, it discusses how to join a professional organization, it provides an online "teacher store" and also has a link to guided lesson plans.  Rubistar could be helpful in the future because it allows teachers to custom design rubrics for assessment as well as find sample rubrics already made.