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As part of an assignment for ETAP-680 at the University at Albany I had the opportunity to submit to Merlot (www.merlot.org). Merlot is a website in which educators are able to share online learning resources. The site offers teachers in all subject areas the opportunity to locate and utilize electronic resources that they may have not been able to find on their own. The resources can be searched by keyword or can be browsed by subject area.
I have known about Merlot for a little over a year and have been a huge fan from the beginning. Having a collection of resources that have been submitted by other educators is ideal for any teacher. We are all looking for new, effective resources for teaching and this site offers an excellent collection of resources that has been approved by our teaching peers. I plan to utilize multiple resources from Merlot in my future classes, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to submit a resource that I found and thought would be useful. In order for this site to be effective it has to be a two way street, with teachers utilizing and submitting resources. I encourage any educator to take a look at the available resources on Merlot and to submit any electronic resources you may find useful.
If you would like to take a look at the resource I submitted you can go to:
http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=281830
I think almost all teachers are aware of traditional uses of PowerPoint in the classroom. Almost all teachers, myself included, have designed a PowerPoint presentation to be utilized in a lecture or in a classroom presentation. The problem with using PowerPoint is that in most instances the students are passive recipients of knowledge. Most teachers utilize PowerPoint as nothing more than an electronic chalkboard. I know that I have definitely been guilty of this myself. The thing that I recently learned was that PowerPoint can be used for so much more. PowerPoint can be used as more than just a means of presenting information to students and can instead be utilized in fun, interactive classroom activities. The website “Active Learning with PowerPoint” (http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/powerpoint/index.html) provides a guide for the effective use of PowerPoint presentations.
The most interesting link I found within this site was the topic “Games in PowerPoint.” The use of PowerPoint in designing a Jeopardy game is discussed within this section of the site (among other games). This is a great idea that I had never even thought about!!!! I could definitely see students working together in teams playing a game of Jeopardy in class as a review for an exam or final. I think that the students would get a lot out of using PowerPoint in this way. I encourage all teachers, not just teachers of chemistry, to take a look at this site; I think you will find it extremely useful.
Mendeleev Reminder
I’ve recently been reflecting on the growing access to technology in the school at which I am currently a substitute teacher. When I graduated from this same school in 1999 access to technology was limited. There was a computer lab dedicated to teaching basic computer skills (i.e. typing and the use of Microsoft Office programs). There was a small computer lab (about 10 computers) and 3 computers in the library that did not even utilize a Windows operating system!!!! Even though computer based technologies were plentiful outside of the school at the time, their use inside the school was minimal.
When I returned to the school as a substitute 2 years ago I was amazed at the change. The computer lab had more than doubled to about 25 computers (an additional Mac lab was added this year, containing approximately 20 computers). The library had 17 computers that could be used by all students. At least 20 laptops computers were available for use in the classroom. The entire school was networked and had wireless internet access. In addition to this, there were 3 projectors and 2 Smartboards that could be used with computers in the classroom (I just found out that an additional 4 Smartboards have been purchased with one being dedicated to a science room).
Along with this growth in available technology has come an increased use. I have observed the science teachers to be especially proactive with the use of the newly available technologies. When looking at the sign-up sheets for shared resources you see science teachers signed-up on a daily basis. The access to technological resources and the willingness of the science teachers to make use of these resources is refreshing to see. It is amazing how much change can occur in less than 10 years!!!!
I recently came across a great site that could be used with students when teaching a lesson on the periodic table. The site, provided by Los Alamos National Laboratory, would serve as a great resource for teaching how to use the periodic table and the history of the table. The site was extremely colorful, with the colors on the table corresponding to the different groupings of elements. By clicking on each element the site provides a thorough description of the element, including the types of compounds it can make, sources of the element, its uses, and its properties (both physical and chemical). The section on using the table and the information found within each element’s box is thorough and informative. Also, I think that many students would find the article on naming new elements to be extremely interesting, I know I did. But don’t take my word for how useful this site could be, go to http://periodic.lanl.gov/default.htm and judge for yourself. I hope you find this as useful a resource as I do.
happyWelcome to Technology in the Chemistry Classroom.
This is my first blog, so I will be learning as I go.
This blog has been designed as part of ETAP 526 at the University at Albany. The goal of this blog is to discuss the growing use of technology in the high school classroom, in particular the chemistry classroom. I will try to post my experiences and observations both as a student and a teacher.
Enjoy.
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