Lesson #9: Creative Technologies

So there are a ton of new technologies out there that have infinite applications in the classroom. A few of these are the Smartboard, augmented reality visualization tools, and the ActivTable. I don't blame you if you've never heard of these technologies, so I'll let you watch the video below first before I move on.

Cool right? So my favorite technologies shown in this video are the augmented reality tool and the Smartboard. By using the augmented reality tool in my future Earth Science classroom, my students and I could fly around (and inside!) Mount Vesuvius, a glacier, or the Grand Canyon. This would allow my students to experience landscapes they would otherwise not have the means to visit.

Another way I could integrate these technologies into my classroom is by using the Smartboard. By using video conferencing software like Skype, we could chat with a student in, say, Iceland or interview a world-class Geologist doing field work in Bolivia. So cool...

Lesson #8: Back to the Future

Back in the 80's, people had certain theories about what school would be like in the future. I recently watched a three-part video made in 1987 about how future technology would change education. The video made some accurate as well as inaccurate forecasts. Take a look...


Classroom of the Future (Part 1) by donaldtheduckie


Classroom of the Future (Part 2) by donaldtheduckie


Classroom of the Future (Part 3) by donaldtheduckie

The video centers around a boy who is absent from school due to a broken leg. He is connected to the classroom and his partner via live two-way video feed. This concept isn't so far from reality. Today, we are able to video conference between locations and some classrooms are equipped with the capability. For instance, some Boise State classrooms have a "classroom capture" feature that records lectures so they may be viewed at a later time by absent students or other interested parties.

One of the things that is not as accurate is the way the kids access the "internet". The boy talks to his computer, which has voice recognition and artificial intelligence. These things are not so outlandish, given Siri, Cortana, and other "smart" operating systems. However, the way he interacts with this technology is a little inaccurate. The interface lacks any similarity with today's internet. Instead of having individual websites, pages, and search engines, it is a single database containing all the world's information.

Despite having a few flaws, the video actually portrays the classroom of the future in a fairly accurate way.

Lesson #7: Wii Bowling

Today, we used Wii Bowling in order to test a hypothesis: does bowling with your eyes closed get you a better score? Common sense tells you that, "No, keeping your eyes closed cannot possibly improve your game score". Well, guess again. The pair that kept their eyes closed for the experiment (Kyle and Cam) did significantly better than Madison and I. But why? Is it just because Wii Bowling cannot distinguish finite aspects of someone's technique? Or is it that when someone keeps their eyes closed, they can focus on the pure mechanics of bowling and do not have time to overthink their shot and mess it up? Who knows. Either way, the boys won and I am bitter.

To keep track of our data, we used a spreadsheet in Google Docs and it proved a very useful way to visualize how and what is being measured. It also allowed us to all edit the same document at the same time. However, we did find a few flaws. As we were playing, the scores on Google Docs and on the Wii system were not the same. On the Wii, Cam and Kyle were winning, and on Google Docs, I was winning (???). It's possible that the flaws were due to people incorrectly entering their scores. Either way,
it seems like the Wii system is a more accurate way to keep score and Google Docs is the better method for creating graphs, charts, and keeping track of individual stats.

Lesson #6: Annotated Playlist