Embedding, not so fun...Playing, much fun...

In class today, we went over embedding the podcasts and digital photostories into our web pages. I am not going to lie, but it seems really complicated. I will have to follow the directions thoroughly. Then, we reviewed some websites that offer educational applications. We 'played' with websites, such as Starfall and Read, Write, Learn, geared towards Language Arts and Mathematics. Katherine, a fellow peer, and I looked through the websites of Starfall and Read, Write, Think and acknowledged the advantages and disadvantages of each. Starfall offers applications with audible phonetic sounding-out of words while Read, Write, Think has the advantage of creative, open-ended answers. Some disadvantages included that Starfall's homepage was somewhat cluttered while Read, Write, Think did not offer the option of saving one's work or the arranging of material by topic or level.

A couple thoughts I took from today's class were the whole notion of the internet is extremely abstract, that there are many resources for teachers through the internet, and that I will need to review the content of websites and plan accordingly before bringing my students into the computer lab.

I think the educational applications through the internet will be of great use in reinforcing material once it has been introduced. I really like the fact that with most of the applications the students controls the pace, so that the games are individualized and differentiated. On another note, I found many of the applications to be naturally fun and engaging. Computer lab time could be used as a reward for good behavior, class participation, etc. Consequently, the reward will be educational not unhealthy like food.

The question I am left with this week, is whether there are many programs for children with special needs?

Until next time...