Educational Technology Chapter 7 Review

In my educational technology class at the university, I am reading a text that has helped in my understanding of technology use. A new and popular university option is Distance Learning and Internet classes. The current chapter (7) discusses the benefits and disadvantages of this widely-used tool for learning.

Distance learning includes: Student Research Online, Classroom Materials, Web-Based Lessons, and Virtual Courses and Programs. Before reading this chapter I thought it meant students taking online courses, but distance learning encompasses more than that. Everytime I, as a teacher in progress, use computers as a resource to learning, they are gathering information from outside sources which can be both useful and detrimental.

This is your decision at the the end of the day on how to use technology. Overall, it takes discernment on when and why it would be used and I genererally have found great meaning in utilizing technology in the classroom.

Start Experimenting!!!

Science is the inquiry of the natural world around us and everyone should learn to view the world through questioning, curious, interested eyes. If you have a neat experiment let me know.

In general, everything can become an experiment. Example: Why do trees turn colors in the fall? Check it out and do the research!

What happens when acids and bases combine? Use household products to figure it out!

If I have a stomach ache, what can I eat to help it? (remember body chemistry is largely based on pH)

A favorite is buoyancy- think about the molecules and how they are interacting instead of just the mass. (Buoyancy involves more than mass!)