Relection of Chapter 7

                                                 Relection of Chapter 7

     After reading this chapter, two points impressed me a lot. One is about how to evaluate or select educational software, the other is about how to use strategies to help teachers use game more effectively in the classroom. Since I'm really interested in making a software, I will only talk about the first point at this time.

     To the first point, I remembered a sentence mentioned in the textbook: one way to identify good education educational software is to recognize what constitutes poor software. For those low-quality softwares, the main body is always the activity. Students are always controlled by it. The software cannot adjust activities according to the users' needs. In my opinion, a good educational software should be excellent at its in interactive design. How to make the software interactive?  I think the designers should focus on three stages: collecting information, analyzing or making predictions and making adjustments. For example, when students answer questions, the software should record their responses at the same time, then make predictions about what  users know and do not know. Based on predictions, the software can adjust its presentation of problems to those students need to practice the most. In all, good softwares should serve their users, which means they must be able to make the learning process individualized, just like a teacher instruct a student face to face.

     

     I also want to talk more about the second crucial stage of designing an interactive software.

How to make predictions? How can the program know what the user know and do not know. How can it realize this exploring process？ I think knowledge of this part is close to education. I guess the designer will draw a knowledge web when he or she design the program. The web will clearly illustrate the relationships among every teaching points.If one of them cannot be understand by the user, the program will automatically go back to the those which are closely connected to.

    My questions are just those three I mentioned in the last paragrapgh, I really want to listen to your answers.

1.How to make predictions?

2.How can the program know what the user know and do not know.

3. How can it realize this exploring process？ 

Chapter 4&6

These two chapters mention various  resources  and methods to help us transform  ideas in the mind into real practice. However, at first, I felt confused about so many resources. I thought they  are so excellent that I wanted to use all of them in my classroom. I couldn't determine which information or technology should be incorporated into my lesson plan. So I tried to tease out them, and now I have a basic impression about that.

Firstly, I divide a lesson into three parts: Introduction, process and evaluation. I will ask myself which part or which parts I want to design it or them as a technology-applied part. For example, I want to teach 2nd grade students something about sharks. If I decide to inspire students to recall their impression about sharks at the stage of introduction, I will think about which technological form I will use in the classroom. I suppose I will show them a video about sharks. Then I will  search it on the websites that mention in the textbook. For example, I choose a website of Edutopia. I enter it, and I find there is an option named "Videos" on the right side. Then I can click it and find a video about sharks. Processes are simillar in other two parts. What   I think I have to pay attention is about how to design the transition when the video is over. How can I do to lead students think in the following time. How to design to make connections between the video and my questions.

Of course, a comprehensive learning process cannot leave  without the part of preview and review. In the chapter 6, it introduces a technique like adding bookmarks in the teaching. Teachers can confine those preselected sites as a way to minimize distractions and confusion  when students build up an initial impression of the knowledege. So it is a good way to lead students do the preview.

Now, on to some questions, I had:

1. Which part of a lesson do you think webquest can be more effective for students' learning?

2. Teachers can teach a whole lesson through webquest, do it means someday we can realize a dream that students can learn online at home instead of going to school?

3.  What kind of abilities do you think webquest can develop students the most?