Uses of Modern Technologies

   In my research I have stumbled upon this website which shows the various ways in which modern technologies can be useful for students.
  

  The article starts off by discussing the various iPhone/iPad/iPod applications that can be useful for teachers. Briefly listed they are:

• TeacherPal: a free app that helps teachers organize classes and students. It can be used to  track attendance, keep grades, and even monitor behavior.
• Evernote: I actually have experience using this application in my advanced Italian grammar class last semester. This free application allows one to take notes and also allows pictures to be inserted into the evernote document. Each document can be shared with others.
• iStudiesPro: This application serves for organizational purposes and comes in handy when teachers are to instruct on an A/B day or block schedule.[Costs $2.99]
• School and Stuff, Grades and Timestables: The most effective use of this application is the connection of the parents. Teachers are able to upload student grades and parents are then able to view them as they are updated. This allows a parent to be extremely involved with student academic progress and take appropriate action. [Costs $2.99]
• Powers of Minus Ten: specifically designed for biology instruction this application allows one to  take a close look at all of the cells that compose a human hand. Future science teachers will probably benefit the most from this application and more information can be found here.

   Additionally many Kindle applications such as the one's listed on this website can be applied to history classrooms [with the acquisition of the fifty states], science classrooms [by keeping up to date with current events from NASA and viewing photographs of past missions, and exploring various habitats]. The Kindle also offers applications that allow students to practice their art skills by painting and drawing. Additionally, I am sure that everyone is familiar with Words With Friends, the online version of Scrabble. This application helps students increase their vocabulary which is especially helpful in an English classroom. Though it can be viewed as "just a game" teachers can set tasks and "accomplishments" for the class that will ensure that students are acquiring new vocabulary and are able to use the words in sentences. The students will be learning without even realizing due to the fact that they will be having so much fun. Furthermore, one must not forget the basic value of the Kindle: books. With this device students will be able to consolidate heavy textbooks in one light and simple tablet. Additionally, the screens on the kindle resemble that of paper rather than that of a computer screen and text can be made larger/smaller thus accommodating to various student needs. Overall, I feel like I would be able to use each aspect of the Kindle in an Italian classroom to aid student learning. I would encourage the acquisition of the text book used in class via the Kindle device and use many of the applications to build vocabulary, master geography, learn about various aspects of culture, as well as many other applications.

  Moreover, social media is also discussed in the article due to the fact that studies have proven that students perform more efficiently while engaged in learning communities. As a future Italian teacher I plan to integrate social networking sites into the curriculum in order to have students practice their grammar and writing skills while doing something that they enjoy. Additionally, I feel that this type of platform will allow students to learn aspects of Italian language and culture that are not covered in the classroom such as slang and various other aspect. However this article does warn teachers of the pro's and con's to using this type of technology and ways in determining when it is appropriate and when it is not. A supplementary article provided discusses this in more detail.


   Furthermore, the article also suggests a visual organizing site called popplet, which I personally have never heard of before. Upon reading about the uses of this website I can see that students will be able to utilize it in order to organize ideas for various classes as well as organize other aspects of their lives. Additionally, teachers can find use in organizing ideas for students as well. Overall, this program allows one to use as much creativity as possible while organizing their schoolwork.

  Finally, the last educational tool discussed in the article is Pintrest. As an avid "pinner" my self I can see how this virtual bulletin board can be used in the classroom to benefit student learning. Personally, I would use this website to construct a cultural project in which students created various pinning board to represent different aspects of Italian culture. Possible boards can include "food", "clothing", "daily life", "music" and many others. As students find pictures that fit into the various categories they will be able to provide links with recipes, videos, and music clips in order to share the cultural aspects that they have discovered. As a final product each student will have an interactive collage of Italian culture that they will be able to present to the rest of the class. As a side note the site also allows following which allows the instructor and other classmates to view the contributions made to the project as they arise. Additionally, the site itself includes an "education" tab where one can post ideas to use in class, a contribution that may prove useful in the future.