Three Amazing Uses of Technology in Learning

Today I presented to my ED208B: Curriculum Design class a briefing on three ways to use technology in learning. I centered it around three themes: Research, Production and Communication. I demonstrated tools from Google Earth, Second Life and Wikipedia. The feedback was very positive. Comments were "Very organized", "good content", "professional" and "I've never seen PowerPoint used so well." The class most enjoyed the Google Earth video. Wikipedia and Second Life were tied as the most controversial. Folks were amazed at how they never knew there was this second world out there. And how strange it seemed to spend time and money virtually. Discussion about Wikipedia was around validity.

Today's class was themed around technology and textbooks. It was well-organized and led us through a discussion on challenges of both textbooks and technology and creative ways we might overcome them. You can view presentation slides here. Check out the speaker notes! There are some details hidden there. It doesn't have as many of the video clips and pictures I used as I didn't get permission to post them. I have posted the Google Earth video showing the Greece Acropolis.

Tools:

Google Earth - Easy

SketchUp - Intermediate

Mapbuilder - Easy

iMovie - Easy

Second Life - Intermediate

The Movies Game - Intermediate

Camtasia - Easy

Stanford iTunes - Easy

Blogger.com - Very Easy

Wikipedia - Easy

Vodcasting - Medium

The ratings are my impression from an initial use perspective. These technologies are approachable, but they can get more advanced.

Link to my presentation (4.3 MB)
Link to My Google Earth - Greece Movie (5.5 MB, Windows WMV format.)