On Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend FETC (Florida Educators Technology Conference). What an exciting day. I was able to attend two sessions that I felt would benefit the work that I have been doing for my Graduate classes. The first session I attended was about a school that has integrated Ipods/Iphones into every classroom. Giving a ratio of 1:1. According to their research, they have found that students are not as connected to the technology unless they have it in their hands. I was also able to follow discussions and questions addressed in this session via a "social network" called Edmodo. After the morning sessions I was able to go to the Edmodo booth and ask a lot of questions about how this site works. I think it is a great idea, but it needs to expand to meet the needs of the students and teachers. I suggested that they talk with the textbook companies to get interactive homework where students can turn in their work paperless and online. The second session that I attended was on vodcasts. I attended this session because I am thinking about writing a grant where I can integrate vodcasts into my classroom for absent students to view via the internet or for students that need a little refresher on the material covered before the test from home.
My favorite booth that I attended at FETC was Promethean’s. Promethean has created a Interactive whiteboard that uses pens and also touch to use as a teaching tool in the classroom. They have also teamed up with Cyper Science to create 3D models of things in the different sciences including: Anatomy, Zoology, Botany, Biology, Chemistry, Earth, Paleontology and Engineering. While I was at the booth, I was able to take apart a frog layer by layer and also click on different parts of the frog and a label would show up and identify the part I was clicking on. To be able to integrate this into a classroom, a teacher would need to have a DLS projector that can show 3D images and also a set of 3D glasses. Although the projector is about the same expense as a regular projector, the glasses run about $75 each.
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